Dude! I'm No Damsel!
by Lemonybean
Summary: Danny was a victim. Dash was a bully. And one night, there was a typical damsel and hero incident. But what will come of Danny being a hero and Dash being a victim? And how can Danny cope with Dash hating one side of him and loving the other? It's just gotten complicated for Danny Fenton. Yes, it is silly. Darker themes to come. It'll improve. DashxDanny
1. Chapter 1

**Dude! I'm no damsel!**

_Danny was a victim. Dash was a bully. And one night, there was a typical damsel and hero incident. But what will come of Danny being a hero and Dash being a victim? And how can Danny cope with Dash hating one side of him and loving the other? It's just gotten complicated for Danny Fenton._

Well looks like I'm doing Swagger Bishie...

I don't do anything remotely normal do I? Rated for safety. It won't be updated as often as you or I would like.

I don't own Danny Phantom and if I did, it would be continued. Obviously. Not that I'd do a great job with it. :) No flames please.

Chapter one: Slip ups

The darkness of the night was lit up only by the shining lights of both the stars and the town lights that Sunday roads were empty of any transport and Amity Park as a whole, was fairly quiet. All apart from one particular house. Paulina Sanchez: A-lister, Hispanic and the desire of many boys at Casper High School was having one of her famous parties. The drum and bass pumped out of the building, shaking the walls of both houses either side. Everyone had come to her party that she wanted. I mean, who could deny Paulina? But one person had not shown up. The great Danny Phantom. Not that it was his choice not to go. If it were, he'd be there quicker than his dad to fudge.

At around 12.30 am on that night, the mahogany door opened and a tall, blonde haired jock stepped out, hugging his letterman jacket tightly around his well-built frame. Dash Baxter was also an A-lister, but was quarterback for the Casper High Ravens and a bully too many there also. Dash looked up at the sky and a puff of cold air drifted from his mouth with a shiver. He hugged his thin layer closer around him and jogged down the steps as he left for home. Dash had gotten fed up of Paulina. In his opinion, dancing that close to him in that way should be illegal. There was no doubt that Dash used to find her attractive, but now she was just a friend and not even a very good one at that. He was also bored, as Kwan had left around half an hour beforehand, breaking his curfew in the process. Not that he cared about that. All that were left were those who had got completely drunk and stupidly flirty. Dash was not one of them. He didn't care for vodka, beer or any other kind of alcoholic drink. It didn't tickle his fancy.

His sneakered feet tread along the cracked pavement carelessly and he looked down at the leaf littered floor below him. He knew he would return home to an angry mother, claiming that he had missed his curfew by an hour. He would claim that he hadn't meant it, which was true and he would end up grounded for a month. It was the same old routine. Dash'd gotten used to it by now. He sighed and looked up to wear a look of confusion. He didn't recognise his current location.

The streets had turned dark, rough and broken. Shattered windows and abandoned houses were prominent here and this set Dash on edge. Where the heck was he? Dash's eyes widened and he hugged himself tighter, looking at the floor and avoiding all eye contact with any possible ruffians or lawbreakers. Unfortunately, a blonde boy sporting a bright red jacket isn't extremely inconspicuous and he had caught the eye of a group of shady men hanging around a ropy looking car. As soon as Dash realised that he was being followed, his pace quickened and his breaths became more jagged, the air freezing his lungs and slowing him down. In blind confusion, Dash stumbled into a shadowed alleyway, which unfortunately was a dead end. He skidded to a halt, looking around frantically and then spinning around to see the six older men with grins on their worn faces. Dash backed up into the crumbling brick wall and his eyes darted back and forth between everyone of them.

The one, which Dash assumed to be the leader, stepped forward throwing dagger skilfully up and down in his hand, "We don't wan' no trouble. Just empty your pockets an' we'll leave you be." He said in a slightly slurred way. The smell of human waste, sweat and beer was strong on this man and Dash wrinkled his nose in distaste. Dash wasn't one to back down, and he certainly wasn't one to back down to a bunch of drunken weirdos. He squared his shoulders and shook his head, unable to speak from fear. The moustached leader scowled and gestured to the men behind him, who came forward, looking equally as offended by Dash.

The leader gripped Dash's neck and held the sharp blade to his throat. "We gave you a choice man an' you denied it. Looks like we have't do it the hard way." He pressed the knife into his jugular, drawing a trickle of blood and making Dash's eyes produce tears. Dash thought of school. His life there. His popularity, his friends, his admirers. His victims. In particular, Danny Fenton The one who set Dash's teeth on edge and basically begged him to bully him. His clumsiness and weak stature was felt in Dash now. Dash felt clumsy. Dash felt weak. Dash thought he was going to die. Dash took a sharp intake of breath as the rabble of drinkers closed in on him and his impending doom with it.

But that's when he came. A flash of black and white zoomed down behind them and caused the men to jump and the knife to fall from the leaders hand. His Snow White hair and glowing green eyes were well known throughout the town. His monochrome jumpsuit was iconic and the strange insignia even more so. The tan male had a spooky glowing aura about him and a stance that showed he was prepared for a fight. Dash smiled at the sight of Danny Phantom, the Ghost Boy, Inviso-bill, Whelp etcetera. All in all, Dash knew he would be saved by the town hero.

"Get away from Dash you repugnant ruffians!" Phantom ordered as he stood up to his less than impressive full height and let his hands glow with spectral energy. The group turned around and prepared themselves for a fight.

"Wha' makes you think you can bea' us Ghos' boy? There are six of us, an' only one of you." The leader chuckled darkly and lead his group towards the ghostly hero. Dash was crumpled on the floor, looking at the goings on in interest when one of the men grabbed him and brought him forward too. "An' we have Dash. Your frien' is he?" The man grabbed Dash away from his counterpart and gripped him tighter. For a moment, Dash could have sworn Phantom had a glimmer of recognition in his eyes.

"I said let him go! I am warning you citizen!" He raised his fists in front of his face, looking to Dash with quick, sharp movements. Dash was confused. For some reason, he heard an unfamiliar shake in Phantoms voice. Why would Phantom be worried? Phantom was brave, witty and not afraid of anything. What did he have to lose? He was already dead.

The leader did not listen to Inviso-bill and gripped Dash's neck tighter, causing him to grapple at the mans arm helplessly. "He DOES mea' something to you? Well that's a surprise. The ghos' kid thinks somethin' of this loser." The leader laughed as Dash's vision became blurry and his head began to spin. His eyes nearly fluttered closed and his scrabbling became loose and hopeless.

Danny Phantom growled a low, menacing purr before hitting the leader across the face with one, smooth glowing punch of his hand. The man was knocked back into the wall and slid down as he fell unconscious. At the sight of this, his 'friends' fled as fast as they could, leaving both their leader and their victim behind. Without a second glance to the unconscious man, the ghost boy went to Dash's side and lifted his head up onto his knee. Dash's eyes flickered open erratically to see the spirits face near his.

The ghosts toxic green eyes were magical and entrancing while his long, messy white locks drooped over his soft lined face teasingly. Dash wondered how soft his hair was; he wished to touch a piece and run it through his fingers. It was only up close that Dash could see how skinny the dead teen really was. The tight material of the spandex hung close to his flat body and did not cover the fact that he felt sort of cold to Dash.

It was only then that Dash discovered his head lay in the boys lap and the face of the spectre was literally an inch from his. "Are you okay Dash?" The Ghost Boy asked in pure concern and his eyes bore into Dash's, making his heart thrum heavily in his chest uncontrollably. Dash nodded mechanically and shifted his weight to try and lift himself up, only to moan in pain and collapse again, with the ghost boy supporting his back. "You aren't okay. I'm so sorry Dash." The boys brow furrowed and he rubbed Dash's arm to remove some of the dust that was there.

"Why are... Are you sorry?" Dash mumbled woozily and tried to stand up again, this time with the help of the town Heroine. His knees felt extremely weak as the white-haired teen supported his back comfortingly.

"Because you got hurt." The boy said quietly and helped Dash stand to his full height. "Okay?" Danny asked and looked Dash up and down warily as Dash nodded. Phantom stepped back and let go of Dash's arms slowly to let Dash acclimatise to standing again.

Unfortunately he wasn't ready. Dash stumbled forward again and was caught by the ghost, falling into his chest sleepily. Dash looked up at him and blushed faintly. Dash wasn't all there. The lack of oxygen supplied to his brain after being strangled was limited and therefore, he wasn't in a sound state of mind. That's what he thought afterwards anyway. Heaving himself up, Dash slipped forward and his lips collided with the hero's. Dash looked at him with half-lidded eyes and a giddy smirk while the Phantom looked at him wide eyed and disturbed. Yet they didn't pull away. The Ghost Boy's eyes fluttered closed slightly and he helped Dash get up to his full height. Dash moved his hand to support the smaller boys back and bring him closer to him. The Ghost Boy complied.

To Dash's surprise, the Ghost Kid let out a satisfactory moan and jumped away from the Jock in a startled way. "I-I'm sorry." The spirit's confidence was heavily knocked and his neon eyes burned in the dark with confusion.

Dash blinked away his dizziness and touched his lips lightly. His heart produced a flutter from the touch. He looked up to the ghost boy and said apologetically, "I am sorry too." He looked down and his muscled arms fell down too. The Ghost known as Danny Phantom looked pained at the awkwardness of the situation but decided on one thing to do. He stepped forward and took Dash's hand firmly.

"Let's get you home. Yeah?" Danny said carefully and Dash looked to the white-haired boys height. Dash squeezed Inviso-bill's hand and he smiled softly. "Cool." Dash noticed that the ghost who had just saved him sounded a lot different than to when he was talking to the gang. He seemed more like a teenager, unlike his usual heroic manner. It was nice to see him this way. It was calming to Dash. "Hold on tight." Danny ordered and Dash was more than willing when the small boy rose into the air, his hair flowing back out of his young face.

Dash clung to his arm tightly as he watched them ascend away from the alleyway and the leader who still remained unconscious. The jock watched wide eyed as the buildings and cars below became smaller and smaller and the air started to grow colder. Soon, they flew through the clouds; the damp moisture hitting their faces softly as they passed through the dark sky. Dash saw the lights of the large town sparkle brightly but the brightest light of all was coming from Phantom. He shone like a star and his glow was brighter than usual. The truth was that Phantom was very happy, meaning his aura glowed brighter. He was flying with someone other than Sam or Tucker for a change and it felt good. He enjoyed seeing Dash give him a look other than hatred and admiration. But the kiss? That would haunt his mind for a while to come. Danny was sure about that.

After a short gentle flight, they soon arrived at the Baxter household and the ghost boy let the Jock down gently at his doorstep. "You're home now. Next time, watch where you're going okay?" Danny smiled sweetly and Dash's smile matched his.

"Sure man. Thanks." Dash nodded and the ghost turned to leave when Dash caught his arm, "um, can I ask you something? How do you know my name?" Danny turned around and looked a little lost for a moment, with his mouth gaping in a goldfish like manner while he tried to think of something to say. Dash laughed internally at the Ghost Boys reaction.

"Well, you're a jock at Casper High and a lot of people know about you...?" The Phantom answered, but it almost sounded like a question as the teen looked sheepish. He did not pull away from Dash's warm grasp. Unlike other times that Dash had touched him, this was soft, careful and friendly. It couldn't be compared to the usual rough punching of the shoulder into your locker. Danny much preferred this.

"I'll accept that." Dash replied cooly and let go of the ghosts cold arm, of which he felt a slight twinge of disappointment from. Danny sighed and smiled almost in regret as he stepped down the steps up to Dash's house.

There was no denying that Danny had forgotten his hate for Dash Baxter. Instead, he found himself fascinated by the great oaf and yearned for his attention greatly. There was something about the pure strength Dash had that Danny could not ignore. It was intoxicating. At this moment, Danny had Dash right behind him, with a conversation hanging in the air meaninglessly. Danny could speak to Dash without Dash wailing on him. His core swelled up in merriment at the thought and suddenly his feet refused to walk any further. He wanted Dash's company more than anyone's at that time. Even more than Tucker or Sams.

"Um, Dash?" A wobble was clear in the ghost boys voice as he turned around to realise that the jock had not left his previous standing position. The truth was that Dash wanted to speak to Phantom more. After all, since when do you actually get to speak to the great Danny Phantom? Dash smiled and straightened his back out as Danny looked in his direction. "I was wondering..." The Ghost Kid sounded so nervous it made Dash smile. With the rubbing of the back of his neck too, Dash was trying to contain the hysterical giggle that could escape from his lips at any moment. "Would you like to meet up again? Like on Friday? After you finish school? Under the stands in the Football pitch?" The pale ghost looked up from under his thick bangs with a wary smile, with his neon eyes sparkling. Dash felt himself relax and a beaming grin spread across his face.

"Yeah! Sure! Friday after school under the stands, got it!" He replied enthusiastically and found himself sporting a huge boost in hyperactive energy. What made him smile wider was the fact that it looked like Dash'd just made the hero of Amity Park's year.

"GREAT! Um, I'll see you then yeah?" Danny made sure and turned around again to leave, but was stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around the Ghost Boy and restricting his movements. Danny blushed at the hug that came from behind and the sudden warmth that encased him. A realisation of something made him feel a little on edge. Dash nuzzled his face into Danny's neck slightly and smiled. Danny wasn't as cold as Dash was lead to believe. The contact was pleasurable and for some reason... Dash felt pained when he let go.

"Thank you again for saving me." Dash thanked with a warm smile and shook the Ghost kids hand before walking away slowly and heading through his front door, shutting it with a quiet slump.

The teen hero stood slightly stunned on the pavement on this quiet, empty street and recalled what had just happened in his head over and over again. Dash had hugged him. Dash; the jock, bully and torturer of Danny Fenton had given him a hug. Not just any hug at that. Dash had pulled Danny right up close to him from behind no less and wrapped his arms around his chest. Danny swore Dash was stroking his t-shirt once or twice. And then there was... That. That was completely unexpected. Danny doubted Dash even knew he did it. Finally, the kiss. Why did he enjoy it? Why did Dash enforce it? It didn't feel right. But it happened and now Danny was seriously confused. With a shake of his head, Danny rose up into the air and headed to Fenton Works after a long day of Ghost fighting, confusion and possible bonds being formed.

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How'd you like it? Review please as always and NO FLAMES I REPEAT NO FLAMES!

I am but a sensitive soul.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay an update! Thank you for the reviews! :3

Yes, I know the kiss was random. But it was supposed to be odd and out of place. And just want to slam their faces together.

I don't own Danny Phantom. I mean, come on, I'm fifteen.

No flames. Or I will run after you with a flame-thrower. :)

On with the story!

Chapter two: The Usual Wailing and wondering

"WHAT?!" A feminine screech reverberated throughout the Casper High corridors, making every teenager plunge their fingers into their ears in order to muffle the noise.

They all sent the source of the irritating noise a look of annoyance before carrying on with their usual business, not even thinking for a second that something interesting was stirring between Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley aka the Losers. The certain squawk had come from Sam, who was a midnight haired goth girl who detested the colour pink and opted for vegetables over meat. With a look of confusion she threw up her arms in frustration and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Keep it down Sam! You don't want the entire school to hear! Though, I bet they already did." Tucker slapped his ear in order to get the ringing to fade. This boy was an african-american techno geek with an obsession with his PDA and an undeniable love for meat produce. His ret hat, yellow shirt and geek aura often made him a target for bullies, but not as much as his best friend. Sam sent him a warning glare and crossed her arms moodily. "You were saying Danny?" Tuck continued and looked back down to his electronic device intently.

"Well..." Danny, the ebony haired boy wearing a white and red t-shirt and jeans rubbed the back of his neck in a familiar nervous gesture. Danny was... Well, everyone thought he was normal. He wasn't anything extra-ordinary or special. Apart from his parents being Ghost Hunters and his awful grades, nothing shone out about this boy. Only the slight chill down your spine when you spoke to him and the secrecy of where he went when he left 'for the toilet' rose suspicion. But no one cared because Paulinas latest love interest was the hot gossip. Even though Danny wasn't really a geek or a nerd, he was still bullied more than any other kid in the school by Dash Baxter nonetheless. Perhaps this is what made it so odd for him to tell the events of the previous night, "I'm kinda meeting Dash on Friday." He gave a nervous half-smile and laughed slightly to try and ease the tension. "As Phantom." He concluded.

"Do you know how stupid that is Danny? What if he hurts you? What if he finds out?" Sam whispered harshly but fear for Dannys safety was evident in her violet eyes. Danny frowned ever so slightly at her reaction and crossed his arms over his chest with a pout.  
"Maybe he won't. Maybe he will. But that's my choice Sam." Danny grumbled as he thought of Dash last night and the secret experiences they had shared; the hug, the kiss, the touch. It all seemed to dream-like. Or nightmarish. Danny was unsure on which. But he reassured himself that Dash was pretty dazed and in shock from being strangled so didn't know what he was doing. Danny sighed. That thought didn't make him feel any happier or satisfied.

"Just make sure you don't get in a mess dude." Tucker looked up from his PDA from under his thick rimmed glasses. "We don't like it when you get hurt bad." He gave a pained look and rested his hand on Dannys thin shoulder. Danny gave a hard smile and shrugged the hand off of him.

"Thanks, but I'm okay. I think it's going to be fine. It'll be great to see how Dash behaves with me without knowing I'm Fenton as well as Phantom." He gave a large grin which caused Sam to raise an eyebrow questioningly. A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips before fading out of existence.

"Whatever you say Danny." She appeared to have given in and gave an un-Sam-like smile.

Danny gave her a look of suspicion before shaking his head and slamming his locker open before it was shut immediately again, narrowly missing Dannys fingers. He looked up to see the culprit who was none other than Dash. Danny's face brightened a second before fading to its usual deathly pale colour when Dash said, "Wailing time Fenturd!" In a booming loud voice and grabbed the white material of Dannys shirt.

Danny peered up at the looming bully, afraid of how he would react to Dash's presence. He was right to be wary. As soon as he looked up into Dash's hate-filled ocean eyes, Danny felt his heart thrum in his chest wildly. He glared at himself internally to stop but he couldn't. What the heck was going on here?! "Okay." Danny said absent-mindedly and just stared at Dash blankly.

Baxter blinked in confusion. "Okay?" He asked simply at first, "OKAY?" He raised his voice and growled, before grabbing Danny by his collar and hissing in his face very closely. "Listen to me punk. When I'm about to wail on you, you don't just say 'okay', OKAY?" He growled and Danny nodded his head robotically.

"Dash, leave him alone." Sam sighed impatiently and took hold Dannys hanging arm. Dash glared at the Goth girl with such an expression, that Danny wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, Dash was threatening Sam. On the other, that face made his stomach have fierce butterflies.

"Why should I listen to you Freak?!" He hissed and slammed Danny into his locker, shutting the thin metal door behind him and storming off down the corridor mumbling to himself incoherently. Tucker sighed and looked up and down the length of the corridor in a way that made it seem like routine.

"Coast's clear Danny." He exasperated and didn't look up from his PDA as Danny fell through the locker door with ease.

"Having second thoughts Danny?" Sam asked with a strict raised eyebrow and supported Dannys hands as he pulled himself off the ground.

"No." Danny said with certainty and brushed himself down. "Dash isn't all bad Sam." He said monotonously and continued with upset and confusion in his eyes.

"Not all that bad? He pummels you into your locker everyday, three times a day all through the school year!" Sam threw up her arms in over exaggerated distress.

"Yet he was nice to Phantom after he saved him." Danny retorted and huffed a large out-gust of air with a fed up attitude. "Look, I've got to give him a chance. We can't just believe that the bully is all he is. He's something else. I just know it." He said assertively and shrugged his back-pack onto his shoulder before dragging his tired feet along the empty corridors of Casper High.

Danny looked as he always did. The scruffy hair with the hollow eyes and translucent skin were not what a teenager should be having to wear everyday. But Danny did. Having a 'side-job' as Danny Phantom took sleep, social time and energy from Danny. But because of recent events, this had been getting worse. The night Dash was saved by him lingered in his mind sternly. It was driving him insane. The countless unanswered questions whirring about in his mind constantly.

The only thing Danny was sure of was that if Spectra got her hands on him anytime soon, she'd have a full course meal on her plate. Of course Danny didn't tell Sam and Tucker the full extent of what happened that night. Especially not the 'intimate' details. For one thing, Tucker would laugh at him and Sam would go psycho; secondly, they'd blab non-stop questions at him and thirdly, he found himself feeling sick when he thought about telling them that he tangled tongues with Dash Baxter. The same kind of sick that came with trying to tell your parents that you're half ghost. Of course Danny'd know all about that and that's why he hadn't told them. He got hurt enough by ghosts.

* * *

Kwan had noticed that Dash'd been acting a bit strange from the start of the school day. His best friend had been more reserved than usual and whenever Paulina or Star asked what was wrong he sent a mumbled 'nothing', sighed and then slumped into his desk. Kwan knew he'd have to intervene. It wasn't normal for Dash to be acting so... Longing for something. He was usually a bustling ball of energy that even Kwan found hard to contain.

When lunch came, he noticed Dash sitting under a tree, far away from everyone else with his knees brought up to his chest and his brow furrowed in concentration. This was definitely not a good look for him. Kwan left the A-lister table after five minutes of thinking about what he should do and whether he should act or not and headed over to the tree where Dash sat looking over Amity Park with a thoughtful expression. The Asian Jock muttered to himself quietly before taking in a big breath and stepping to the side of Dash shakily.

"Dash. What's on your mind?" Kwan asked, making his best friend jump and hold his shoulders uncomfortably.

"Jeez Kwan! Don't scare me like that! It ain't funny pretending to be a ghost. Especially in Amity." He appeared to flinch at what he said and crossed his arms before looking at the floor. Kwans eyebrows pulled up into a pitiful expression and he slumped down next to the blond.

"You can pass it off to Paulina and Star Dash, but you're my best friend dude. It's really obvious; I know something's up and I'm here to talk about it with you. No escape." Kwan gave a questioning look and tried to force Dash into making eye contact with him, which was rendered impossible by Dash hiding his face in his knees like a child. He sighed and nudged Dash with his elbow, "I promise I won't tell anyone." He did the best puppy dog face he could muster until Dash sneaked a peek of his best friends pout.

"Just don't tell anybody or I'll pull your underwear over your head. With you in them." Dash gave him a hard glare and then averted his eyes. "Last night Phantom savedq me and... Imayhaveaccidentlykissedhimandnowimmeetinghimonfri day." He babbled incessantly and blushed while tapping his foot nervously. Kwan blinked twice and showed no reaction or sign of understanding.

"Okay... Slow it down. I can't hear what you're saying when you blurt out words at the speed of light." He shifted on the grass and smiled slightly in a comforting way.

Dash sighed, "I may have accidentally kissed Phantom and now I'm meeting him on Friday." Kwan looked as though Tucker had dressed up as a chicken and had started shaking his behind in his face. He sat there wide-eyed with his mouth gaping until Dash frowned and said, "Snap out of it Kwan! I need some 'manly' advice right now. I don't know what this is classed as. I mean, he asked ME whether I wanted to go Friday and I said yes!" Dash bit his nails nervously and looked at his friend with expectancy.

He snapped out of his confused haze and stuttered a reply, "I-I don't know what to say. What lead to this happening?" Kwan sure as hell looked a bit freaked out. After all, his best friend had a brief 'intimate' encounter with none other than the hero of Amity Park; a dead one at that. Wasn't that like, necrophilia or something? No. Not that intimate.

Dash began to explain with a blank expression. "Well, he saved me by some rough punks when I walked into the wrong part of town-"

"You mean Danny Phantom fought humans? That doesn't seem like him. Unless he's fighting that freaky circus master or some ghost fighters. He doesn't hurt people." Kwan interrupted rather rudely and Dash gave him a harsh warning glare.

"He knocked the leader out Kwan. To save me okay?" Dash sighed and massaged his temples. His best mate was so odd sometimes. But at least he had faith in everyone. There seemed to be a lack of that nowadays.

"You must mean something to him then." The blonde blushed at that comment and shouted to himself internally. "What happened after that?" The Asian boy leaned towards him with interest.

"Well, after the guy strangled me, Phantom helped me up and I kinda collided with him. Face wise. COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL OF COURSE!" He laughed nervously and looked around to check if anyone was listening to their conversation. "He flew me home and said goodbye but not before he invited me to meet him somewhere. I said yes... Obviously. After all, this is Danny Phantom isn't it?" Dash grinned slightly and his shoulders relaxed as he looked down at his rhythmically moving feet.

Kwan was gobsmacked for a minute for he smirked and punched Dash's shoulder lightly, "You got a date then? Never thought you the type to like boys. Especially ones who hide under beds." He winked and laughed before falling back clumsily onto the soft green grass.

"Dude! It's NOT a date! And monsters hide under beds. Not ghosts." Dash corrected matter-of-factly and stuck his index finger straight with an air of intellectual superiority that only Fenton's red-headed sister could pull off effectively.

"Oh, I'm not suggesting that ghosts hide under beds in general. But Phantom might sleep under yours in particular." Kwan grinned and produced a blush of embarrassment from his confused jock friend. "And stop blushing dude. You aren't some kind of girl. Or maybe you are! Phantom carried you bridal style right?" Kwan loved winding Dash up, especially when it caused him to cover his face.

"Dude. Not cool. I'm seriously scared. I still don't know whether he's a good guy or not. You know how much of a variety of opinions people have on him. Some think him as an evil ghost but I've always believed he wasn't! But now I'm meeting with him... I don't know." Dash pulled at his limited amount of hair in frustration.

Kwan stopped joking now and looked more concerned than before. "It'll be fine and if it isn't, I'll kick his ghostly butt. Okay?" Kwan tried to convince him. From beneath his hands, Kwan saw Dash smile and nod his head slightly.

At that moment, they heard screams coming from the direction of the cafeteria, catching the attention of the two jocks immediately. A few clashes and bangs rang out before a black and white clad teen flew through the wall obviously not of his own choice and straight into the small tree of which they were perched under. Before the two could act further, the rather weedy little spirit fell from the tree with a series of 'ooh!'s and 'ow's and countless cusses spilling from his lips as he hit each branch. He finally dropped to the ground with legs splayed wide and a slowly rotating head which would suggest that he was dizzy. The only thing he needed now was a couple of birds circling his crown and chirping or maybe even a few ghosts.

"Phantom, are you okay?" Kwan asked politely and was replied with the ghost shaking his head to sort out the spinning sensation and jumping up onto his feet. He puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips in his usual hero stance before answering.

"Um... Thank you citizen! But there is no need to worry!" He announced almost comically before opening his toxic eyes to see none other than Dash and Kwan before him. He pursed his lips and put his arms behind his back. "Uh... Hi Dash." He smiled with a haze of crimson crossing his cheeks.

"Hi." Dash smiled back and Kwan looked as if he would explode if he didn't let out the laughs he contained.

"Um I've got to go! Beating ghosts and all!" He laughed nervously before saluting and giving a second glance to Dash. "Get your big metal butt back into the ghost zone Skulker!" He roared and zoomed off into the cafeteria once more.

"Wow... He's a catch alright." Kwan snorted which received an annoyed punch from his friend who beamed inwardly. He was truly lucky to have this chance. To have a personal meeting with Phantom more than once. Dash looked to the ground once more and plucked a white flower from below him in absent-mindedness.

* * *

Far away in Wisconsin, Vlad Masters was fuming. Skulker had returned to him only to tell him that his little badger was getting close to a certain jock in his heroic ghost-form while continuing to have a bully-nerd relationship in his human-form.

Vlad paced up and down his study with a thoughtful expression on his pale face. His pure white ponytail bobbed on the back of his neck and dark eyes held no sign of him leaving this trance.

Didn't Daniel know how this would jeopardise his secret and his own for that matter? The way he was planning this encounter was more disturbing than his Techno-friend's love for that infernal device of his. The fact that this boy was Daniel's long term bully made him even mor worried. Not for his safety, but for the fact that if he found out that he was a halfa, he would more than likely tell the entire world that Danny Phantom was half-human. After that, it wouldn't be long until his own identity was discovered. His little badger had clearly inherited his fathers stupidity.

Plasmius stopped walking but kept his arms behind his back. He would have to monitor him more closely than before it seemed. He just hoped that Danny would gain enough sense as to not reveal himself.

Vlad picked up a small, robotic doohickey shaped like a bug with a similar look to that of his ghost half. With a flick of a switch the bug, along with many others flew out the window and into the darkening sky. Vlad smiled. It was necessary, but entertaining also. Not that his little badger would be too happy about that.

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How was it? Reviews please!


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm sorry this has taken so long! Fanfiction wouldn't let me log in! -_- this chapter is more of a filler than anything else._

_THANK YOU FOR THE LOVELY REVIEWS! I would answer them all but I'm so tired. No flames as always. Review please._

_I don't own Danny phantom, I only do in my dreams. *.*_

_Enjoy_!

Chapter 3- Home Comforts

Danny slumped onto his bed and flung his bag on with a tired huff. He closed his eyes and lay down with his arms and legs spread about at all angles across his mattress. His midnight hair, now messier than usual, stuck to his forehead with the sweat he had developed from his recent battle with Johnny 13.

Despite great effort from Danny, he had managed to get the spook in his thermos in a less than impressive time of an hour. The ghost himself had commented on the halfas lack of skill in the fight while he drove his motorcycle down Elm Street, on the other side of town. At that point his bad-luck shadow had jumped on Danny and brought him crashing to the ground. That had earned him a great gash on his lower arm and a large graze across his back. This battle and the fact that he had finished school two hours ago resulted in a rather zombie-like Fenton; brain on show and all. I joke of course. But you get the rather grim picture.

It had been exactly 65 hours, 23 minutes and 56 seconds since the incident with Dash (not that he was counting!) and he was getting impatient. Not only would Friday be the much wanted start of the weekend, but it would be the day Danny found out more about this surprisingly elusive jock. Even though Danny had been in the same school as Dash through Elementary, Middle and High School, Danny'd never paid much attention to the goings on considering Dash. Though he'd often be the subject of many discussions, surprisingly, the halfa wasn't interested in gossip, despite his unsatisfiable need to be one of the A-List.

He soon found himself drifting off into an exhausted sleep with his eyes fluttering closed. At least he wouldn't have to think anymore. He let his body relax and he listened to his deep breaths. In... Out... In... Out... In-

"DANNY? ARE YOU HOME SWEETIE?!" Danny's eyes snapped open and he jumped up with a start with an action pose that Tucker would snort at. With a groan he realised that he wasn't in fact being attacked by a ghost, but that his mom, Maddie Fenton was screeching up the stairs at the top of her lungs.

"WELL I THINK I AM!" Danny shouted back in frustration and flopped face first onto his bed, with his face smashing into the discarded bag which contained numerous hard-back books that even Jazz said 'weren't useful for the academic development of the future successors of Amity Park'. "Ouch." Danny hissed and rolled off the purple ruck-sack rubbing his reddening nose.

At that moment Jazz walked in with a soft smile on her face. Her red hair hung down her back as usual and she wore her normal black top and aqua trousers combination looking as preppy as always. "You okay Little Brother? Wanna talk?" She asked and sat down on his bed next to him.

Danny gave her a half-lidded glare and rolled over on his face again, "I don't want any psychobabble today Jazz please?" His dull tone was muffled by the bed sheets cradling his face.

"You just seem a bit uptight. More uptight than usual I mean. Is it about school? Friends? Sam?" She enquired nosily and Danny sat up in irritation.

"For the last time, Sam is not my girlfriend. I only like her as a friend." He said with a defensive expression; his eyebrows pulled up in the centre with a pleading look. For perhaps the first time, Jazz actually believed him. He seemed distracted, but not in a way which would make it seem like this was about a girl. Well, not yet anyway. "I just want to be alone Jazz. I'm seriously tired. I've had enough of a 'friendly' chat with Johnny 13 thanks." Danny's eyes were greyer than usual and the way he slurred his words made Jazz think he was only partially giving her his attention.

She sighed and finally gave into the worry she had for her little brothers sleeping patterns, "Fine. But you're having dinner tonight mister. No getting out of it."

"What if Mom's putting that Anti-spook salt into it?" Danny smirked slightly and crossed his arms mockingly. With sudden realisation, Jazz bumbled out the room and down the stairs uttering incoherent reasons why Maddie shouldn't add any anti-ecto ingredients to the food. Danny smiled weakly before suddenly flopping back onto his bed with a mumble and a hum and began to snore soundly. He did deserve a rest after all.

* * *

Two hours later, Sam had her head buried in a book lying on her front with her legs swinging back and forth in the air. Her hair had been pulled up into a scruffy ponytail and she had dressed in her purple sweatpants and black crop tank top on after deciding that wearing a skirt and tights wasn't exactly a good idea with 'girl problems' currently happening at home. The only light in the room came from the computer screen on the opposite side of the room because being the creature of the night she was, Sam had shut her curtains and relished in the gloom and darkness of her black, red and somewhat violet bedroom. There was no doubt that Dracula himself would approve of the colour scheme.

However, Sam's mind was elsewhere. Over the last few days, Danny had been acting different. Though this was most probably because of the meeting with Dash on Friday, Sam was still worried. He never got so worked up over a petty thing such as this. Manson but her lavender lip and looked down to the dark bed sheets for a moment before shaking her head and looking back to the book. Danny was okay. He was alright.

As she continued to read, a small 'bonk' sound was heard, repeating itself twice. Sam dropped her tragedy novel and hopped off the bed like a pixie and headed over to the familiar sound that came from her Pear computer. Sure enough, her email account, SamMUltraGoth , had popped up on screen and she had received an email from DannyFP aka the infamous ghost boy she had become acquainted with. Sam slumped into her hard wheeled chair and leant forward with her fingers hovering over the keyboard while she inspected the screen. What he had sent her made her sigh and shake her head.

(Danny) 'Sam! I'm losing it! I swear 2 Clockwork I'm losing my marbles!'

Well this was interesting. Danny would never usually admit to being bonkers without a good reason. Ghost attacks didn't count as a good reason to be a mental case when you lived in Amity Park.

(Sam) 'explain?'

She typed back simply and leant back in her chair to look at a picture of Danny, Tucker and she during 5th Grade while she waited and tapped her arm with pointed nails.

(Danny) 'mom asked me if I wanted to try some of her soup & I agreed. Then I barfed up a can-opener. WHY DID I SAY YES TO HER?!'

Sam blinked twice. She could imagine him freaking out right now. Fingers tapped the keyboard again.

(Sam) 'easy mistake 2 make. And how did u do that?! Don't answer that 1. I don't wanna know.'

(Danny) 'that's not all. I swear that there's something watching me & I've been talking to myself for the last 5 mins. I don't even know what I was saying! What's brought this on?'

Sam sighed and massaged her temples. He was so clueless it was almost unbearable. It was only until recently that she realised that Danny would never love her like she wanted to be loved. She accepted it like any good friend would and after a few weeks, she felt better about it. But still, she worried about him.

"Sammy-kins? Please come down IMMEDIATELY AND STOP LISTENING TO THAT LOUD SCREECHING DREADFUL EXCUSE FOR MUSIC!" Pamela Manson called up the stairs and walked away from them with her heels click clacking against the hard floor. Sam rolled her eyes and typed again.

(Sam) 'U aren't crazy. Just talk to Jazz. I gtg now. Evil witch is calling." Sam pressed the enter button and ran away down the stairs to her sickeningly sweet mother while slamming the door behind her. The dark room stayed silent apart from the muffled sounds of the Mansons below until the familiar bleep of Sam's email rang out.

(Danny) 'she doesn't understand... Bye then.'

Danny closed down the window on his computer and got up from his chair with glazed eyes. With his hair ruffled beyond belief and his arms hanging uselessly by his sides, Danny wandered over to his window and looked out of it into now darkening sky where stars were beginning to reveal themselves. He rested his head in his hands and looked across Amity Park with a furrowed brow.

No one seemed to understand his situation. Not even he knew why he was acting strangely. He didn't feel like school was affecting him more than it normally did, it was the same old routine with ghost hunting and both his social (though this was rather non-existent) and hero life were running as per usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Well, accept perhaps the recent encounters with Dash but Danny was only slightly wary of this. He thought so anyway.

With a stretch of his shoulders Danny felt the familiar brush of cold air pass over his body as he made the transformation from Fenton to Phantom. Red and blue was replaced by black and white and a spectral glow filled the room. He opened his neon green eyes and ran his gloved fingers through his Snow White locks before huffing and vanishing through the wall, to go about his usual ghost patrol. With the speed he flew, the wind dragged through his hair and stung his eyes but he did not become breathless. It wasn't imperative for him to breathe in this form. The town below him was lit with an amber light that came from the sunset in the distance. The purple, grey and blue buildings created long, dark shadows on each other and the streets were no longer bustling with busy bodies travelling throughout the town.

He smiled as he saw this view. The sight of the place he tried to protect and the feeling of flight was all he needed to relax himself. There was no doubt that Danny felt different in this form; more different than usual. He usually felt very confident and sure of himself, but today he felt even more so. He felt... Pleased with himself. Like he had achieved something. Lord knows what that was.

A wisp of icy cold air passed his lips.

Suddenly, none other than the Box Ghost, 'the most malevolent ghost to haunt this earth' (please. Don't humour me) caught his eye in a gloomy alleyway. He had managed to corner a boy and a girl, both of around sixteen years of age in this tight spot, with the boy trying to protect the girl desperately and the girl standing there with a casual 'am I bothered' face. The Box Ghost was obviously of no harm to humans, but that doesn't mean that trapping them at a dead end and wiggling your fingers at them with stupid words coming out of your mouth non-stop wasn't extremely irritating for both the people and Danny himself.

With a yawn and a roll of his eyes, Phantom flew down to the spot and stepped behind the ghoul before tapping him on the shoulder and coughing. "Excuse me? Boxy? You want to share your supreme box power with someone else? Let's say, Klemper?" Danny smirked as the blue, overall wearing ghost turned around and yelled at the top of his voice.

"I, THE BOX GHOST, DOES NOT HANG AROUUND WITH KLEMPERRR! MY AWESOME CUBOID SHAPED TERROR IS MEANT FOR THE LIKES OF HUUUMANS!" The podgy ghost flung his arm out behind him and waved his arms about in over-exaggerated movements. The girl behind him raised her eyebrow questioningly at Danny.

"Dude, I give up trying to reason with you. You never listen." With that, Phantom pulled out his Fenton Thermos, opened the cap, which sent out a large beam of blue light and sucked the Box Ghost in. He wailed 'BEWARE!' Before the lid was quickly snapped back on again. "To the ghost zone with you." Danny pat the lid, earning a muffled complaint from the inhabitant.

"Thank you." The girl who had bright pink hair and who was extremely short in height spoke. "My doofus here was too busy wetting his pants to save us obviously." The teen teased her companion and elbowed him in the side.

He was a tall, red-head with curly hair and a thin frame that made his long coat hang off him awkwardly. "I was gonna get him you know Alexia. I'm not all that useless" he argued and pouted with a false sad look taking place in his emerald eyes. She laughed and tugged his cheek playfully.

"At least you didn't run away. That'd really suck." She admitted with a sweet smile and shrugged her coat onto her scrawny frame more securely.

"Like I'd abandon you." He smirked and hooked his arm around her shoulder before turning to Phantom. "Thanks for saving us. We appreciate it dude." He stuck his hand out comfortingly towards the halfa.

Danny didn't really know what to do. No one, except Sam, Tucker, Jazz and perhaps Paulina (eww) would willingly touch him as a ghost usually. On the one hand, this guy was thanking him for helping him, which wasn't a regular occurrence. On the other, he didn't know this guy. He was just a random stranger in a dark alleyway.

Danny took the mans hand after deciding to wing it and smiled. "No problem... Citizen. It's what I do." Danny squeezed the mans hand before letting go, saluting and whizzing off into the air, only to land on the roof and watch the two leave for his piece of mind.

The couple watched him go and the man pulled her in closer. "Come on, lets go home." Almost walking in time, they moved out of the alleyway and onto the street lamp lit street where Danny spotted the man kiss the girl called Alexia on the cheek before disappearing from his sight.

Danny felt his heart pang at the sight. His fists clenched and his brow furrowed he turned away and began to fly home instinctively. The halfa's eyes watered as the air stung, whipping his hair cruelly. Why couldn't he have something like that? A relationship? He'd tried with Valerie and had tried with Paulina but all he found was an unsatisfiable niggling at the back of his skull that told him that it wasn't right. Since those two, no girl had sparked his interest. As Phantom, Phangirls flocked around him non-stop and even on rare occasions girls looked towards Fenton.

Yet, none of them were special to him. Sam was his best-friend and jazz was his sister and only those two were his closest female associates. Though Danielle was not as close, she was him and though she claimed to be his third-cousin once removed she was more like a nomadic sister. Was he doomed to be forever alone? Danny tried to push the thought out of his head as he came closer to home. Maybe it'd be for the best. To keep people safe, for him to be forever single. It wasn't a happy thought, but he couldn't put someone in that position.

Once again, Phantom flew into FentonWorks and into his bedroom before transforming back into Fenton with a flash of light. He flopped onto his bed and sighed. Maybe he could pretend to fancy a girl for twenty years and never make a move even when she was married. Nope. Bad idea. He wasn't a frootloop. Danny rolled onto his front and fell asleep face fully planted in the sheets.

Unknown to Danny, a surprisingly familiar metal doohickey clinging to the wall of his room focused its lenses on the sleeping teen and made no sign of moving. Through a digital link, the bug sent an image of him to the mansion in Wisconsin where Vladimir Masters had caught on to the confusion of him. Yet, the source of this confusion confused him also. Sure, teenagers generally didn't know what they were doing half the time and did stupid things, but Vlad had never fully understood the emotions of a teenager, even when he was one himself. His upbringing avoided it. Nevertheless, Vlad would watch intently for times to come and try to figure out the mystery that is his little Badger.

* * *

_Review and no flames in case you are extremely forgetful like me!_


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry this is do late! Please forgive me!_

_Thank you for all the lovely reviews!_

_this feels like a filler._

_i don't own Danny Phantom but if I did I would force everyone to watch it._

_no flames and ENJOY_

Chapter Four- We meet again

The days passed tediously leading up to Friday. Every day went painstakingly slow and at some points and Danny seriously considered visiting Clockwork to try and convince him to speed up time. At that point in his thoughts he was usually interrupted by a slam of a ruler on his desk from Mr Lancer and a 'GREAT GATSBY MR FENTON!' which caused Danny to fall off his chair. Granted, he stopped worrying so much after Sam literally slapped him back into reality but the thought of meeting up with his bully made his stomach churn. There were three outcomes: It went by without a hitch; Dash discovered his secret, accepted it and treated him with respect or Dash discovered his secret, did NOT accept it and either kicked his ass or told the entire world. The usual really.

That is why Danny turned up on Friday morning with his t-shirt on backwards and with food stuffs in his hair. He dragged his weary feet along the narrow corridors of Casper High in a zombie-like manner before stopping unblinkingly in front of his locker.

"Danny." He turned his head only slightly to see Sam and Tucker stood there, with the female one of the two tapping her foot and having her hands on her hips. All Danny did was blink slowly at the action. At this, Sam continued. "Did you actually get any sleep last night? At all?"

Danny gave a feeble cough and opened and closed his eyes slowly yet again. "Well, Skulker was-"

"Don't lie Danny. We know that there were no attacks last night that we weren't there for man. Carmen told us." Tucker gave him a demeaning look and had to push his glasses further up on his nose.

Danny sighed but gave a confused look, "Carmen?" He entered his locker code gradually.

"My baby." Tucker cooed and smiled while Sam rolled her eyes.

"He means his new PDA. And don't change the subject! I know you're worried about tonight but don't lose sleep over it!" She grabbed his shoulders which he barely flinched at and tried to look through his ebony hair into his icy eyes.

"I'm not worried. Just scared of what could happen. What if it goes wrong? What if I've made a bad decision?" He opened his locker and reached in gradually before pulling out several books and stuffing them into his violet bag. Sam's face transformed into one of concern before she brought him into her arms with a rather unexpected hug. Danny looked over her shoulder at Tucker with wide eyes and mouthed "What the hell?" to him. All Tuck could do was shrug.

"Danny, all we can do is hope for the best. I mean, when have your decisions brought us to disaster before huh?" She comforted and hugged him still.

"Apart from the CAT and the whole Dark Dan thing of course." Tucker added. "Ooh and the double Danny's! Fun Danny and Super Danny! That sure was a pain in the-"

"TUCKER! Not. Helping!" Sam punched the boy on the shoulder and growled. Tucker pouted and rubbed the sore spot with a hunched back. "Just think positively about this okay? Otherwise it'll turn out worse." She let go and held her arms behind her.

"You sound like Jazz." Danny smirked teasingly. "Just don't start speaking psychobabble all the time. We don't need another psychologist in the making." Sam blushed uncharacteristically just as the group commonly known as the A-listers swaggered by and snorted at the sight.

"Stop being such a flirt Goth-freak!" Paulina cackled. "The only boy who could ever want you is your scrawny little boyfriend here. You don't have to put on a show!" Star laughed with her and so did many of the others. Danny peered into the crowd to see no sign of Dash or Kwan. "What're you looking for Fenton?" Paulina swished her hair over her shoulder and put her hand on her hip.

"I'm looking for fucks to give about what you think, but it appears that I have none." Danny hissed and sent her an extremely cold glare that wasn't often associated with the runt loser. Paulina's arms dropped to her sides and her shoulders lifted while she clenched her fists and her jaw.

"Finally having mood swings Danny? Wow, I thought you'd never hit puberty." She retorted. Danny had his full focus on her now. First Vlad teased him about his lack of a growth spurt and now Paulina? He was SO not in the mood.

"I. AM. NOT. PRE-PUBESCENT!" He yelled and for a second his eyes flashed toxically.

"What's going on here?" At that moment Dash and Kwan entered the scene, with Kwan speaking while Dash looked rather distracted. Danny felt himself freeze at the sight and all of a sudden he became extremely nauseated. "I said, what is going on!?" Kwan repeated with strength that didn't usually come about him.

"Fenton's getting mad for no apparent reason. One tiny comment about his rate through puberty and WHAM! He goes all psycho." Star exclaimed with her arms raised high.

"Just leave him alone Star, he's just going through things is all." Tucker pleaded and looked away from his PDA.

"That's no excuse to shout at us." Paulina interjected and raised an eyebrow. "Also, what kind of things?" She asked, wishing desperately for a piece of gossip she could blow way out of proportion.

"That's none of your business." Sam argued and crossed her arms over her chest, giving Paulina a challenging look.

"Everyone's business is my business!" She growled back and leaned forward. "This is MY school so I must know everything that goes on in it! You can't hide anything from me Fenton!" She announced.

Danny lifted his head up and walked slowly towards the Queen Bee before smirking slightly and looking down at her, "Trust me, Paulina. If you knew my secret you'd probably scream. Either that or I would make you do so." His voice lowered an octave and all of a sudden, Paulina's authority was knocked slightly. Her eyes looked at him in both curiosity and nervousness before she answered.

"Come on Dash, I want to talk about us meeting up tomorrow night." She took the jock's arm and pulled him away.

"Wait, what was that?" Danny asked with his eyes widening.

"We're going on a date tomorrow. Not that it's any of your business." Paulina said and flipped her hair once more before strutting off with a distracted looking Dash caught in her grip while they were followed by the others.

"What was THAT Danny?" Tucker asked with a worried expression.

"Nothing... It's nothing. Come on, lets get to class before Lancer gives us even more detention." Danny mumbled and began to walk down the relatively empty hallway, taking a few glances in the direction of Dash. The truth was, Danny felt a bit jealous. Not of Dash though but of Paulina. She could be her usual, horrid, self-centred self and Dash would hang around with her but if he was his usual self, as Danny Fenton, Dash'd steer clear of him. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the ring of the bell and Danny ran to his first class of the day.

* * *

"...Mmnnmnnmn... Mn? MN?... DASH! DUDE ARE YOU LISTENING!?" Dash jumped out of his skin and looked at his best friend in shock. Kwan didn't look best pleased. "I thought you said you were going to help me with this? Or is your ghostly friend too much for your mind to handle?" He shuffled the papers in his hands and raised an eyebrow at him.

Dash bit his lip in a nervous gesture and sighed, "Sorry Kwan, it's just... I'm not all that used to being in the library." He peered over his shoulder at Mikey and Nathan who were enthralled by the latest edition of The Crimson Chin comic book. "It makes me feel... Out of my zone you know?" He shivered. "But I did promise to help you with your Physics essay, so I will." He smiled at him and looked down at the papers. Physics, apart from Physical Education was one of the very few subjects Dash seemed to understand. Though the whole forces junk wasn't up his alley, he was fascinated by space and the likes. What a coincidence...

"Thanks man. Anyway, Fenton is staring at you." Kwan nodded his head in the direction of the ebony haired boy. Dash looked back at Fenton from the side sneakily without him noticing and saw the boy with his head down looking at him expectantly. Baby blue eyes stared up at him, with his pale features shadowed by his unruly mop of hair. Dash frowned at the sight as that Goth girlfriend of his next to him jabbed him in the side sharply and hissed something in his ear, while giving a glance in their direction. Danny squealed in pain and rubbed the sore place before looking their way again and suddenly hiding his face with a book upside down with a bright crimson blush not hidden by the literature.

"Fentoad is a freak." Dash rolled his eyes dramatically and prodded the pieces of paper in front of him. "We gonna do this or not?"

"Sure..." Kwan looked over Dash's shoulder at the so called 'freak' gave a quick grin and a huff of amusement. With a nod, Kwan began to talk with his friend about his homework assignment, though not completely focused. "And by the way, good luck tonight." Kwan whispered and smiled at his fellow jock who gave a snort of false laughter. For the rest of the school day, Dash continued to be quiet, thoughtful and a little jumpy. Only Kwan knew exactly why.

* * *

BRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

The final bell rang loud and clear throughout the school. The dozens of sweaty, pubescent teens flooded through the halls of Casper High, desperate to leave this hell and to be free to do what they liked. A mixture of girlish squeals, trembling laughs and manly chuckles later, all the pupils had fled the confines of this dreaded place. Seemingly at least.  
Currently, Danny, Tucker and Sam were in an unnoticeable spot near the bins outside with Danny ordering his fellow ghost-hunters on what to do while he was off patrol; even if it was for only a couple of hours.

"Call me if you need me okay? And remember Technus still calls out his plans from time to time. Hey, have you got the thermos? And the Fenton Gear? You need them you know! If any major trouble comes contact me immediately. I don't want you fighting anyone in the Skulker and Spectra region or beyond got that? Actually, Skulker you can handle. Just don't let it get out of hand. Oh, and what ever you do, don't let Jazz get involved. You know what she's like. So, is that everything... I must've missed something ou-"

"Danny! We're fine! It's only for the night! We're not useless you know." Sam hushed and crossed her arms with a shake of her head. "Well, I'm not." She sent a side wards glance towards Tucker.

"Hey! I'm not useless!" Tucker pouted and slumped his shoulders.

"Compared to me you are." Sam stifled a laugh as Tucker shoved her playfully. Danny rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, as he usually did when he was nervous.

"You sure you'll be okay?" He pressed and looked up at them sheepishly.

Sam sent him a cruel look, "Of course we will be! Like I said, we're not useless. You need to have a break once in a while. From fighting I mean. Looks like you'll still be Phantom for the time being."

"Speaking of that, aren't you supposed to be at the Football stands? Like, now?" Tucker questioned and suddenly his friend's eyes widened in realisation. He grit his teeth and bit his lip before speaking.

"Oh yeah! I'M GOIN-"

"Maybe a bit quieter?" Sam suggested.

"I'm going ghost!" Danny did a whispered shout and outstretched his arms above his head, scrunching his eyes together.

The bricked exterior was lit up by the bright glow of the two shining rings of light of which one headed up and one headed down; in opposite directions. As they moved, the transformation began. His red and white t-shirt turned into a black and white, form-fitting top half with the famed symbol emblazoned across his chest while his blue jeans that were several sizes too big (much like the rest of his clothes) turned into the same suit that was on his top. His sneakers morphed into white boots and his hands were covered by white gloves. As the ring moved over his head, his skin turned a little more tan, and his eyes brightened into the toxic green that Danny Phantom was famous for. His great mop of raven hair still remained soft but turned snow coloured. After all of this, he was encased in a spectral glow that kept close to his body.

This occurrence was truly a scientific impossibility and would baffle most people if they saw it, yet Sam Manson and Tucker Foley stood there with no change of facial expression as if it were normal! Which, of course, it was for them.

"Vlad's right you know; the whole catch-phrase thing is a bit... Pointless. You try to keep your secret hidden yet you shout out THAT all the time!" Tucker laughed but Danny frowned.

"Don't agree with the frootloop. That'd make you a frootloop and do you want that?" Sam asked and Tucker shook his head roughly. "I thought not. Come on Danny! Scram before I make you!" Sam threatened with a glare but a smile slipped onto her face as Danny raised his hands and floated several inches off the ground.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" He saluted and whizzed off towards the pitch but not before he saw Sam and Tucker share a roll of eyes to which they laughed at and walked off. He turned invisible and flew out low to the stands, where he floated in mid-air as he waited for the blonde haired jock to come.

It was strange to think that he would meet his bully tonight. Each time it slipped into his mind he couldn't help feeling like Dash'd wail on him as soon as he saw him. That's why Danny wanted to meet him you see. Apart from the fact that he thought it rude to say no and run away, he strongly believed that if he got to know Dash as a different person, it may change his view of the boy and he could therefore stop worrying about the cruel prospect of Lunch time= Locker Time with Dashiel Baxter. He had enough to worry about with ghost fighting and all.

This is why, when the very same boy caught his sights he did not fret,he did not shake, but he did focus on the thought that maybe Dash wasn't the baddie he was made out to be in his mind. He didn't look like it now to be honest.

He had taken off his letterman jacket as it was a hot day and instead sported just his rather tight black t-shirt and his usual skinny jeans. Well, they looked like skinny jeans. But he never took into account fashion. Well, apart from when he had to wear that really expensive outfit to go to Dash's party... Danny pushed the painful memory away. He couldn't let that humiliation get to him now of all times.

Realising that Dash had a look of confusion for where the boy was, Danny snapped out of his thoughts and dropped to the floor, though still invisible. Danny grinned at the idea that popped into his head. He sneaked behind the jock and with a feral smile, clamped his hands down onto the boys shoulders, which made him jump more than he had ever done before. Not to mention scream like a girl.

"WAHHHHHHH!" Laughing, Phantom turned visible again and bent over in chuckles as the blonde stares at him in disbelief and shock. "Danny Phantom! Dude! Don't do that! I know you're a ghost and all but don't do that to me!" He clutched his chest that rose and fell quickly. "Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

Danny frowned in response and looked sorry, "I apologise for that. How was your day Dash?" He asked as a normal conversation starter.

Dash blinked in surprise. Danny Phantom, his hero and heartthrob of most of the female population of Amity Park was asking how his day was? Wow. This was different.  
"It was the usual. I didn't do so well on a test... But that's nothing to worry about." Dash's brow furrowed at himself before he looked at the ghost in front of him with a forced smile. "Anyway, what are we going to do?" He shoved his hands in his pockets and changed his thoughts to something happier.

"Urm..." The truth was, Danny had gotten so worked up about tonight that he had completely forgotten about what they would actually do tonight. The halfa's face turned into one of concentration as he ran through many ideas in his head. "Um... Why don't we just talk? We can go to the park. I'm sure you'd like to ask me some things. I'd like to ask you some stuff myself..." He said thoughtfully and gazed up at the sky before his eyes returned to the boy before him, "what do you say?"

Dash beamed brightly and laughed, "Sure man! That sounds... Cool." The ghost kid was right of course. Everyone wanted to know more about the elusive Danny Phantom!

"We could walk there? Or... we could fly again. If my memory serves me correctly, you enjoyed our last trip a fair bit." Danny teased to cover up his uneasiness and internally chuckled when a scarlet haze drifted across Dash's cheeks momentarily.

"What? Flying is fun and its not like I've ever flown before the incident is it Phantom?" He quipped back and raised an eyebrow. His embarrassed face soon calmed down after the ghost blushed an odd green colour himself.

"True, true. And call me Danny. Phantom sounds... I dunno... Hero-y. Right now, I'm off duty, so my first name seems appropriate don't you think?" Danny took the moment. Instead of Fenton, or Phantom, Dash'd finally call him by his first name! It'd make him feel so much more respected he decided.

Dash seemed to considered what he said for a moment before he nodded but gave him a quizzical look, "you're off duty? To spend time with me? Why?"

"Football stands are meant for meeting, parks are meant for asking and answering." Danny scolded softly and tutted sarcastically.

"Right. So we're flying? Just don't drop me! I might just wail on you if you do!" Danny flinched at this but kept a calm face.

"I won't drop you, I didn't last time did I? Now, hold my hand." The ghost kid held his hand out. Dash looked hesitant at first but took the white gloved hand and gripped the cold tightly. There was no going back now. "Hold on tight!" Danny said suddenly as he hovered above the ground. He rose higher and higher until Dash realised he was floating too. He held the hand tighter and Phantom smirked. With a laugh, he flew at full speed towards the park, with Dash screaming all the way.  
If only he had a camera.

* * *

_Sorry for the cliffie!_

_i meant to have the meeting between the two in this chapter but I realised it'd tole far too long for me to upload. _

_I love you guys._

_Review please!_


	5. Chapter 5

_HEY GUYS! _

_Sorry this is late... :( my internet went to Barcelona for ages and came back lazy. To simplify, it was not working. Anyway. I'm here now! And I am not happy with the lack of reviews I have._

_I love you lot that have reviewed seriously. But I need more. Or I'll have a brain malfunction and destroy a tree. Or maybe not. Sam'd kill me._

_shall I stop blabbing? Yeah... _

_I don't own little Danny-kins or I'd probably keep him all to myself. _

Chapter five- Meet n' Greet

The afternoon was fairly peaceful and the sky above was quickly fading from blue to orange as the sun began to set. The birds were relatively quiet and almost all transport was nowhere to be seen. It looked as though Amity Park was in for a calm night. Or not. The tranquil setting was abruptly cut short by a boy's quiet screams and pleads as he clutched another.

"OH G-GOD DANNY!" Dash started to sweat intensely and his grip became tighter as Danny powered along without sign of stopping anytime soon. His usually slicked back hair fell around his face slightly and his breathing became jagged.

"D-Dash!" The ghost boy struggled to say. "Stop strangling me please! I know you're scared but still! It's not like I'm going to drop you! I wouldn't!" Danny Phantom found it hard to fly straight with the blonde's arms wrapped around his neck in a vice-like manner while they soared through the darkening sky over Amity Park.

In fact, this and the fact that Dash's legs were locked around his mid-section far too tightly. This wasn't particularly helping Danny's concentration when he felt how close the other was to him. He felt the humans heart thrum wildly in his chest, pulsing so hard that Danny could feel it vibrating against his rib-cage. Dash'd announced many a time that he was feeling sick and that was mostly because Danny was rising and falling uncontrollably of no fault of his own.

"ARE WE FRICKING THERE YET!?" Dash screamed, his voice cracked and broken from the combination of cold air and screeching. His fingers gripped the ghost kid's snow white hair painfully.

"It's down there." He answered through his grit teeth. The jock kept his hold tight as Danny descended towards Amity's Park. The pair landed in a hidden area, surrounded by bushes and overshadowed by a large oak tree. It was still light out so people would still use the park and Danny didn't want anyone to see Phantom and Baxter together. "See, we're okay? I protect the town every moment of my life, it's not like I'm going to let you fall." He smiled and ran his hand through his locks.

"Yeah, well being miles high in the sky in the hands of a guy who can intangible at any moment isn't exactly gonna make us see eye to eye." Dash crossed his arms and pouted childishly. Danny resisted the urge to squish his cheeks.

"Hey! You just rhymed. That was better than any dead guy I've seen rhyming." Somewhere deep in the dark expanses of the ghost zone the Ghost Writer shrieked the halfas name. Danny snorted knowingly.

"Thanks? Anyway..." He sat down on a patch of dry grass and patted the space next to him. "Sit down doofus. You make me feel stupid with you looking down at me like that." Danny raised an eyebrow at the jock's sudden change in personality and slumped down on the ground, crossing his legs and his arms.

"Better?" The ghost kid cocked his head slightly and grinned. His mocking tone made Dash get a bit red in the face, though he wasn't sure if it was from frustration or embarrassment.

"Much better." He sighed and looked at his lap in thought. "So... Can we ask each other stuff now?"

"Yes. Of course..." Danny answered slightly unsurely.

"Can they be personal?" He asked again, looking rather sheepish as he looked across to the small superhero sitting beside him.

"I'll answer if they're not too bad. But if they're too close to home, I'll refuse. Okay? Same goes for you." Dash nodded in reply and twiddled his fingers.

"Um... So, why are you in Amity Park? Aren't all ghosts supposed to be in that Ghost place?" He said shyly. Danny found this odd. Dash wouldn't usually be shy around him. Fair enough, he was usually around him as Fenton but it was still an odd experience.

"I don't have a home in the ghost zone. I died in Amity Park, so I want to stay here and protect everyone here." He answered, avoiding all eye contact.

"Why though? Everyone pretty much hates you here? Especially the Fentons." Dash's nose wrinkled at the name and in response, Danny flinched.

"I don't know... Ghosts have an obsession. Every single one of them. I guess Amity Park is mine. But it's too weird having an obsession of a place. I think I have an obsession with some people here. I don't know who specifically, but I'll find out one day." He slouched back and looked at the sky, which was quickly fading to dark.  
"I hope you do." Dash nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, why do you have a thing against that Fenton kid if you don't mind me asking?" Danny wouldn't usually go as far as asking something like that, especially as it could jeopardise his secret, but he really needed to know what he did wrong.

"Uh... I'd rather not talk about that." Dash suddenly tensed and squared his shoulders.  
"Please? I'll take anything you say to the grave? No pun intended." He smiled and tilted his head to the side, batting his eyelashes and pouting.

Dash rolled his eyes, "Fine. It was in Elementary School. Only Fenton, Kwan, The Goth Freak Manson and that Techno geek... I forget his name; went there with me. Anyway, we used to hang out, Fenton and I. Kwan had other friends and the other two kept to themselves really." Danny remembered that time. Though it was only a few years ago, he barely remembered anything from that point in his life. He guessed Ghost Hunting was too much for his brain to handle, "We thought of ourselves as best-friends. We didn't care about parties, or other people we just went around to each others houses and played games. Most of the time I wanted to play catch but Danny, well, he wanted to build his space rocket model." Dash laughed slightly and sighed, "But it was a year before we left school when Fenton started acting strange. I had nearly gone through the door to his basement which he had told me never to go into and he started shouting at me, like I had offended him. I knew he was very secretive about it all, especially his parent's jobs. But it was around this time I started to notice more about his life and I started to ask questions about it. He got grouchy every time I asked. It kept happening until one day at school, I had enough. I asked him one more time but he didn't answer me. He just glared. That's when I pushed him over. Manson and her friend helped him up and he just looked at me with this horrible stare. Kwan and I were friends from there onwards and Fenton started hanging out with the other two. But every time I see him now, I see that look he gave me and I just want to punch that stupid little face of his in." Dash growled and clawed at his scalp. "I thought friends were supposed to tell each other things. But apparently he didn't trust me enough."

At this point Danny had morphed into a sitting position with his back straight. He didn't remember that far back. He was surprised he didn't. Dash seemed to remember it all. But Danny felt guilty. So guilty that his stomach knotted and he had a sudden urge to throw up. He looked across at the jock with a blank look before looking at the grass again.

"I'm sorry." His hand went up to the back of his neck to rub it. Dash peered up to see his hero looking thoughtful and... Nervous?

"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault. I just can't handle people who lie to my face, you know?" Although Dash was trying to assure Danny that it wasn't his fault, he didn't know that it was in fact making it worse. Danny was lying to him now about who he was and that made him feel like a horrible person.

"Still, I'm really really sorry. But some secrets aren't kept because they don't trust you, but because they want to protect you from the consequences of knowing or because they just can't tell you. I don't know whether Fenton trusted you or not, but I sure trust you right now." Danny played with the flowers next to him absent-mindedly. "Next question please."

Dash frowned at the previous comment before shaking it off and carrying on, "I'm sorry if I shouldn't ask you this, but how did you die?" It was one of the things Amity Park had been wondering for a while and Dash just had to know.

"I was, um, killed in a lab experiment. Electrocuted to be more precise. It was... Very... Very painful." Though he lied about the dying thing, he did not lie about how much it hurt. To be honest, Danny had found it to be the most excruciatingly painful and memorable experience of his life. That or the Dark Danny incident.

"Well, that's definitely not a nice way to go. I'm sorry that happened to you." Dash looked slightly awkward and avoided eye contact with his counterpart.

"Well, it's been a year now so I wouldn't worry about it." He laughed softly.

Dash's eyes widened, "Seriously? Only a year? That means your family are still around and they... Lost you... I'm so sorry. Did you live here in Amity Park? Who's your family? Have you seen them since it happened? What is-"

"Hey hey! Slow down. I thought it was my turn to ask?" Dash shrunk back a bit and Danny sighed, "but to answer your questions, I did, I can't tell you and... Yes. Yes I have I guess. But they don't know who I am. They don't recognise me."

"Why don't they recognise you?" Dash twisted himself to face Danny more comfortably as he grew in interest.

"Being a ghost is being a different version of your former self, if you died and became one I mean. I look different now to what I did before. I guess it's better that way." Danny shrugged off-handedly.

"What did you look like?" Dash leant forward with his hands gripping the grass below and his eyes excited. "Did I know you?"

"Ah. Too close to home. I can't tell you that one. But I can say I barely knew you." It wasn't exactly true, but in a way it was because Danny felt Dash was more than what he appeared to be. He smiled softly at Dash's almost childish manner and bright expression. His eyes almost twinkled with fascination. Danny shook his head and Dash snapped out of his trance. A red haze spread across his cheeks and he slumped back.

"Well, I wish I did. I have a feeling we'd get on." Dash said surely.

"Ah... I'm not so sure about that..." Danny chuckled too quietly for the jock to hear, "okay. My turn. Do you remember that time where we got shrunk by that ghost called Skulker?"

"Oh yeah! Of course I do! That was so cool! It was weird because you kept changing outfits..." He frowned and peered at his new-found friend.

"Right..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck and nervously laughed. "Well, my powers were depleted and so my ecto-signature fluctuated. That made my physical form go all crazy. It's a ghost thing. Something only ghosts and top ghost hunters know about. Nothing you need to know of course. It's all overly complicated. To be honest I don't understand it much myself."

"I won't even ask." Dash agreed, "Why did you go for the whole monochrome jumpsuit get up? It's a bit... Strange." Dash smirked playfully.  
"They're the stuff I died in." He answered bluntly.

"Well it looks like you took some fashion tips from the Fentons man. But I suppose it goes with the whole superhero thing and it's probably easy to fight in hey?" Replied the blonde, as he tried to lighten the mood a tad.

"That's true..." He nodded in answer. Wracking his brain for any questions he wanted to ask Dash, his mind clicked to the events earlier that day when Paulina dragged Dash away from him.

_"Come on Dash, I want to talk about us meeting up tomorrow night."_

"Hey Dash? I heard you were meeting up with that Paulina chick tomorrow. What's with that?" Anger from earlier that day was hinted in his features by the slight sneer he wore. Luckily, Dash didn't seem to notice this.

"Oh... She wants a second opinion on a dress and Star can't make it so she wants me to go with her." Dash snorted, "She's not my girlfriend or anything. She just makes it out like it. Probably to get to you. You interested in her?"

Slightly relieved by Dash's reply, Danny's expression brightened and he laughed, "seriously? No. I don't like the whole all about looks kind of person. It's what inside that counts to me. Plus, I'm dead. It'd be... Yuck." He chuckled sadly.

"Anyway, how old were you when you died?" Danny raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Worried I might be older than I look? Or younger?" He crossed his arms across his chest challengingly.

"No! I mean... Well, you did say you changed appearance when you died." Inside, Danny wondered why he asked so many questions about his 'death'. Not that it offended him or anything.

"Fair enough. Well, I was only just fourteen when I died. My birthday was like, the day before if I remember right." He gave a thoughtful look and when satisfied with his answer, he nodded and gave Dash a smile. One was not returned though.

With a sorry face Dash said, "That's awful."

"Well don't worry about it. I'm dead and that is okay. I will never be alive and that's the way it is." He frowned as he thought about being half ghost. Did it mean he was just half ghost, or half dead too? Wouldn't that mean he was half alive also? Never all alive, never all dead, only both. It was a sad thought, which made the prospect of being alone even more devastating. He was never going to be alive again... and that was a terrifying thought. Danny hoped that he did just have a mixture of ectoplasm and blood running through his veins and was not an undead creep. He lay back on the grass and folded his arms behind his head, looking up at the now starry skies. "No more questions now please."

Dash nodded obediently and looked at the mysterious boy laying in front of him. He was strangely skinny yet nicely built at the same time. Like he had been eating little, but had been doing major workout sessions. The ghost kids orb-like neon eyes reflected the stars above him. Dash looked up to the sky and down to his face again where he saw a soft smile develop on Phantom's face; it was a lopsided, goofy grin. This combined with the enormous eyes and pure white hair drooping over them created a look that could be considered incredibly cute... to a girl anyway. With a shake of his head and a soft blush, Dash lay down next to the lad and dropped his hand to the ground, brushing the side of Danny in the process.

This grabbed the ghost boy's attention and he looked to his side at Dash, "Thanks for talking with me. You know, without screaming or majorly fangirling. It was nice to feel normal for once."

Dash smiled, "No problem. You know, for a Ghost, you're not so unsociable." He teased playfully.

"Well, for a Human, you're not so pig-headed." He laughed and got a light punch on the shoulder from the blonde before they looked up to the starry skies. Danny took his arms out from under his head and dropped them by his sides. Distracted by the oddly bright stars, neither of them noticed the difference in temperature as their hands touched.

* * *

"All is as it should be," The great time spirit, Clockwork observed his may viewing mirrors intently as his fingers played with his staff. His red eyes were stable in his current form, being neither old nor young. He couldn't help a small smile at the sight of the two calm boys being completely different to their usual selves. The blue skinned ghost turned away from the now with his cloak billowing behind him and began to fly down the corridors of his enormous clock tower to a place he knew he would only visit a couple more times.

On the walls, many clocks, sundials and other assorted time-keeping instruments hung. As he hovered past one door, a blue phone box was seen, as well as a silver DeLorean, a hot tub and what appeared to be a sleigh with a huge disk on the back of it. He chuckled at the memory of the many adventures those objects had caused him to have and carried on. His face straightened however when he reached the end of the corridor and entered a dark room with only one object in it.

In the middle was a table with a familiar object standing on top of it. Surrounding it was a moat of glowing blue water, that had a specific role in making sure that this threat would not escape at the wrong time.

"Soon my deranged friend. It will be your time." Clockwork smiled and turned away to head to his mirror room again. A muffled cry of anger came from the cylindrical container and yet another dent was made by the inhabitant.

Dark Danny was getting frustrated with Clockwork's non-stop, meaningless words. And with the size of this deplorable thermos.

Plus... He had a serious hankering for a Nasty Burger right now.

* * *

_There you go. :3_

_review please. I love Dan. He. Is. Da. bomb._


	6. Chapter 6

..._well hey there..._

_SORRY! _

_Here I am :3_

_I don't own Danny Phantom, duh._

* * *

Chapter six: The forgotten half

Clockwork lifted his hood over his eyes and slipped a map into his back pocket. He nodded strongly and turned to leave out the front door for once when his path was blocked. He gave an exasperated sigh at the sight of the two Observants stood there. The Meddling menaces were always getting in his business and underestimating the knowledge he had on events.

The first one-eyed being spoke, "Clockwork. What you're about to do is highly unsafe! This will change big things within the timeline!"

"Big things within the timeline will change!" The second exaggerated.

Clockwork frowned and stepped towards the pair impatiently, "These changes must happen because the future of which Danny Phantom is an important part in, needs these changes! His part-taking in the running of the timeline is extremely important! Now, if you will excuse me, I must visit someone." He nodded his head at them sharply and drifted past.

"Your meddling will get you into trouble Josef!" The second Observant shook his finger at the time ghosts back.

Clockwork turned slightly to look at them with a scowl before he faced away from them again, "Leave this place if you may." Frowning, the Observants began to leave but not before Clockwork grabbed the second Observant's shoulder, "And, do not call me Josef. That name went with my death. The likes of you aren't allowed to use it. Unless you wish me to trap you in a thermos like our friend over there." He hissed and let go. The two nodded, keeping strict faces and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Clockwork shook his head and shut his front door behind him. Would they ever show compassion? Probably not.

Hugging his cloak closer to his lifeless form, Clockwork looked around the dark green, purple and black expanse of nothingness and floated out with his head down. Fortunately for him, not many ghosts believed that he existed and he would like to keep it that way, but a ghost in a dark cloak with a staff and ever changing age appearances was not a common sight here. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have to travel far or through the more populated parts. Since his clock-tower was already near the furthest reaches of the Ghost Zone, he wasn't that far from his destination.

Only a few minutes flight away were the Barren Lands, which was the place that interested him now.

The Barren Lands were known for harbouring the most hostile of ghosts. The clans hell bent on destroying anyone who got near them; the many ghosts of terrible humans banished there and the odd one or two hermits. But Clockwork searched for none of these. The only mentally unstable ghost there was his target. So upset by grief and guilt that they had resorted to stranding themselves in the middle of nowhere, up the top of the highest mountain.

As Clockwork crossed the border, he turned invisible as not to get noticed by a hostile ghost. There was a significant difference from here to the rest of the ghost zone. Only a desert was here, with Rocky Mountains in the distance and the frequent bone or skull scattered about the place. But what was noticed was that it was all blue. Granted it was various tones of the colour, but it still gave a sad atmosphere. That and the dark, thundering sky.

It took him less than fifteen minutes to cross the vast desert lands and dodge the tumbleweed which was most likely because of his practiced flying skills. He passed small, gloomy shacks and the odd chess-piece-like tower with ease and was glad to find no ghosts in his path. When he reached the foot of a cliff-face that carried on to the mountain he flew up past the jagged rocks and rubble and soon found the little ledge of which he was so desperate to find. An entrance to a cave was frosted up around the edges and even Clockwork shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. This was the place.

He drifted in, being wary of every twist and turn of the cave and of the reflective ice coating the walls. Clockwork didn't know quite how they would react as they existed out of time. He only knew that they were involved in the future and that this was essential. Clockwork found himself growing colder and colder and he soon knew he was getting closer. As he turned one last forgotten corner he spotted a being in the corner of a tiny little room.

All around them were photographs, drawings and the random trinket hanging on the walls. They sat with their legs drawn up to their chest with their head buried under crossed arms. Clockwork moved forward and he looked up at the Time Ghost with tear filled eyes.

"It's okay, I'm here to help you." Clockwork comforted but the boy didn't look anymore satisfied.

"The last person who tried to help me got hurt... Never again... Never again..." He mumbled with a cracked voice.

Clockwork bent down and asked "What if you could make it up to them?"  
A pair of young, icy blue eyes gazed up at him with hope that hadn't been seen in them for ten years.

* * *

"Sooooooooooooooooooooo!?" Dash jumped as Kwan pounced on him. "What happened!?" He basically shouted and lay down on Dash's bed lazily.

Growling Dash replied, "What're you doing here Kwan?" He sighed and dropped his school bag onto his bed.

"Well, someone had to explain to your parents why you could possibly not return tonight from your date." He grinned cheekily causing Dash to redden in the face.

"Kwan! First of all, it isn't a date. Second of all, I meant why are you in my room. Thirdly, that's gross dude. Like I'd do that with... A dead guy." He sat next to best friend who appeared to be having a great time teasing Dash senseless.

"Ah but you aren't saying you won't do it with a guy!" Kwan pointed a finger at him, shaking it about accusingly. Oh how Kwan loved torturing Dash's conscience.

"Shaddup dude." He softly pushed his shoulder before leaning forward in his sitting position and hanging his arms over his knees.

Kwan smiled and lay back on Dash's bed with his arms behind his head. "So why DID you have a smile on your face when you walked in?" He cocked his head to the side slightly.

"Because I had a good time. He's a cool guy Kwan. He's not just a hero or a villain. He has feelings and... Oh Crap I sound dumb." He growled at himself.

Kwan's eyes narrowed, "what exactly did he talk to you about?" He sat himself up a bit.  
"About his death, why he saves the town and then we stargazed." Dash smiled at the memory and sighed. "He likes the stars, like I do. He said he wanted to be an astronaut when he was alive. But he's been in space already. Isn't that awesome? Kwan? Isn't it?"

"Geez man you aren't helping the 'it wasn't a date' front at all." Kwan frowned almost seriously, "You really think he's great, don't you?"

"I really do. That's why I'm meeting up with him again." Dash confessed and crossed his arms across his stomach. He avoided eye contact with Kwan, afraid of what his friend might say.

"Really? That's cool. Just don't forget about Paulina." His best friend reminded him and Dash's face lit up in realisation.

He had that stupid outing with Paulina. Great. To be honest, he wasn't in the mood at the moment to look at sparkly shoes and crop tops. Squealing wasn't his most loved thing ever. Whenever Paulina asked him how she looked in something, he said she looked nice and then she completely ignored his compliment and bought something else that showed too much skin. Boy, girls were complicated.

"Can you go instead pleasssse?!" He begged Kwan who shook his head firmly.

"No way man. I'm not getting dragged into that mess. Anyway, my mom is making me go to her cooking class with her. I have no idea why." He looked confused and scrunched his brow.

"Maybe it's because the last time you put a piece of bread in the toaster the whole kitchen set on fire. You're a disaster in the kitchen dude." He poked him and Kwan frowned. He stood up and folded his arms across his chest.

"No need to make fun of me for it. Anyway, I bet Phantom can't wait to see you again." His face brightened again as he saw the positivity in Dash's eyes

"It's Danny. His name's Danny." He corrected Kwan, who rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Lover boy." He whispered and was attacked by the big bulk of a blonde. Kwan couldn't help but laugh at the way Dash reacted when Phantom was mentioned. But Dash's fist stopped that

* * *

_Birds tweeted sweetly in the full bodied leaves of the trees. The sound of happily giggling children were heard nearby as they chased each other and talked about only a kid could fully appreciate._

_"Hey Dan Dan!" A tall blonde haired boy with navy eyes, wearing a red t-shirt and blue knee-length shorts yelled and ran away from class of youths playing nearer the school. He went to the edge of the field's boundaries, to a tyre swing shaded by trees. There swung another boy. He was small with messy black hair and cool eyes, sporting a shirt with a strange green 'F' logo on the front. He wore trousers that were clearly a little big for him and sneakers that would make him trip if he ran anywhere when he was tired._

_He looked up from his feet and beamed as his friend ran across; jumping off the tyre swing after he spotted him. With a goofy smile he greeted, "Heya Dash! What's up?"_

_"Well, Miss Gardener wanted me to give you a letter. It's about Parent teacher evening!" Dash thrust a piece of paper into Danny's face and he struggled to remove it from his face._

_"Oh..." He looked disappointed and a bit frightened, "Thank you..." His heart sank as he realised that he'd have to let his parents meet his teacher this year. Every year he'd missed out on these events because his parents were too busy to come. But this year they had said they were definitely going, which scared Danny to death. No one knew what their jobs were. It was a government funded thing and they were advised not to blurt it out if they knew what was good for them, but they left the deal. They refused to work for them. So they started their own ghost hunting business and began to work again on their dream invention; the ghost portal. It was top secret of course. Danny couldn't say anything. Not that he wanted to. If people found out about the family business, he'd be laughed at; bullied; he'd lose Dash. He desperately didn't want to lose his best friend._

_Dash frowned at his friend's unresponsive attitude and snapped his fingers in front of his face which was deep in thought, "Danny, are you okay?" He asked in concern and peered into the other's eyes._

_"Uh, yeah of course!" He nodded sharply and blushed in embarrassment. Dash sighed in aggravation and crossed his arms._

_"Danny... Why don't you tell me anything?' He asked in sincere worry; anger_ _seeping into his features._

_Danny was surprised by the question. Dash'd never asked something like that before and it had caught him a little off guard. "Um..." He mumbled but was interrupted by a sharp sigh._

_"Danny, why? You're my best friend and I thought best friends were supposed to share everything together?" Dash asked again, clearly upset by the lack of knowledge he had about his friend._

_"You don't tell me everything either." Danny mumbled and a couple of recognisable children noticed the sudden change in their demeanour from a way away._

_Dash frowned even more, "I tell you everything. It's not my fault my life is so boring. My dad's a lawyer, my mom's an accountant. Office jobs. What jobs do your parents have Dan Dan? I don't know do I? It's just a job. I'm only interested. But you don't tell me! You shout at me when I don't mean to do things! It's not nice Danny! I want to know you and I can't!" He ranted and his fists clenched at his sides while he grit his teeth._

_"You don't have to know everything about me Dash!"_

_"How am I supposed to trust you?!"_

_"BEST FRIENDS TRUST EACH OTHER NO MATTER WHAT!"_

_"BEST FRIENDS DON'T LIE!"_

_Danny's face twisted into an uncharacteristic scowl he said, "Best friends don't get angry for NO APPARENT REASON!"  
_

_BAM!_

_Danny spat the dirt out of his mouth after he was pushed face first into the ground below the tyre swing. His normally clean clothes were now covered in muck as he looked up at his pusher. Dash pushed him, but Dash didn't look like he normally did. He was normally calm, cheerful and a bit fussy but that one seemed to have disappeared and was replaced_ _by a red faced, steaming boy with his shoulders moving up and down with his breathing sharply. Danny's face paled as Dash stepped towards him but he was held back by a hand. Kwan, the round faced Asian kid stopped Dash from coming any further with a look of concern in his eyes._

_Danny felt a smaller hand on his own shoulder and turned around to see a purple eyed girl wearing a purple dress and an African-American boy with glasses too big for his face. With weak smiles, they lifted Danny to his feet and stayed silent wile they watched Dash and Kwan head away._

_The big blonde looked around with furious dark eyes, __**"I had a reason Fenton**__."_

Danny suddenly jolted in his bed. Sweat ran down his forehead and his hair was ruffled. He hugged his sides as he thought though the dream he just had. It was scarily similar to what Dash had described. Danny shivered. Had he really had that fight? One thing was for certain.

He wasn't having cheese this close to his bed time again.

* * *

_Ugh._

_hopefully some plot will pop up some point._

_you guys are awesome. review, follow and favourite as always please! _


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry for the delay. My head was weird.**_

_**vlad- you're always weird.**_

_**Me- SHUT UPPPPPPPP VLADDDYWADDY**_

_**I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM OR ANY MARVEL CHARACTERS *wink wink**__*****_

* * *

Chapter Seven: Stalking

Dash sighed heavily as he followed Paulina into yet another clothes shop. The amount of squealing she was doing was actually giving him a headache. Shoes, squeal. Dress, squeal. Sweater, squeal. Danny Phantom necklace, SQUEAL! It was quite frankly nauseating and after an hour already, Dash's Saturday had turned into a bore-fest. He had no plans with any of his other friends and now all he wanted to do was do some sort of activity with his newly acquired super-friend.

As they browsed through the endless racks of over priced clothing, Dash found himself zoning out and ignoring the endless, mindless blabber spurting from the Latino girls' lip-glossed lips. "Ooh! This is soooooo cute! It'd look perfect on me! Ah! And with this skirt too!" She picked up a hot pink mini skirt and threw it into Dash's face, "I need some wedges with these!" She ran off, grabbing the big blonde's hand and tugging his arm. He nearly fell over with the brute strength this girl had. She was definitely stronger than she looked.  
After yet another hour of shopping and half the clothes in the mall bought, they; or rather Paulina; decided to sit in the café in the centre of all the shops. She purchased an iced fruit drink and slumped down onto a seat with Dash following her, arms full of bags.

"So Dash!" She leant forward and sucked on the straw. "What's with you at the moment?" Paulina raised a carefully plucked eyebrow and the side of her mouth pulled up at the corner slightly.

"What do you mean?" Dash droned absent-mindedly and bit into his chocolate cookie, staring off to the side.

Paulina frowned, "You aren't paying any attention to me." She pinched him and he complained, rubbing his arm with an annoyed look. "Or anyone else for that matter. You need to make an effort you know! Everyone has noticed! They'll think you're getting weak." She folded her arms tightly.

"I'm just going through some new things is all." He kept looking to the side and avoided eye contact with Paulina even when she huffed in annoyance. If she found out he had a friendship with Danny Phantom she'd go mega fan girl and scare him off. Or steal him. Either way, Dash wanted to keep Phantom in his company.

"Hey, what's Fenton doing here alone? Shouldn't he be with his freaky friends at some geek event or something." Paulina nodded in a certain direction away from them and drank from her cup again.

Dash lifted his head at just the moment when Fenton had looked back and now stood mouth slightly open and eyes staring wide. Dash looked at him questioningly before the small shaggy haired teen ran off in a random direction and disappeared around the corner sporting a huge red blush. Dash shrugged and bit a piece of his cookie.

Paulina just looked at him incredulously, "Did you not just see that?!" She pointed the way Danny vanished off to.

"Fenton being a freak? Yeah I noticed. He's gone now." Dash mumbled, looking down and frowning in thought. It was like Fenton'd forgot what'd happened all those years ago.

"He keeps looking at you funny. It's freaky." Paulina drank from her cup again.

"Since when do you care about what he does so much?" Dash grumbled in annoyance.

"Okay, sorry." Paulina scoffed and looked in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, from the direction of which Danny'd run off to, Fenton was busy contemplating what he'd just done. 'Great time to have a freak out Fenton you idiot!' He thought to himself. That dream last night had been really effecting him all morning and now he had just seen Dash. At that moment, a huge wave of guilt washed over him and he had stood there shocked; his heart racing.  
He peered around the corner to see Dash and Paulina still there. He slammed his back to the wall again. 'Why did you come here in the first place Fenton? You could've gone somewhere else if you were bored!' He said mentally yet again. His mind raced as he tried to decide what to do, but a large part of him wanted to follow the pair. He knew how creepy that'd be but his ghost half told him that he had no choice. This part of him literally screamed for him to shut the hell up, go ghost and do it. With a growl at himself he ran into the men's room opposite and changed into Phantom with a quick check to see if anyone was around.

Danny turned invisible and flew through the wall, just to see Dash and Paulina leaving the restaurant and heading into another shop. With determination on his face, he flew after them and went into the clothes isle opposite them. He silently laughed at Dash's bored look but felt pity for him also. Paulina on the other hand looked like she was having the time of her life.

"Dash, I'm trying these on. I need your opinion." She ran into a cubicle and pointed to a chair outside them, "sit there will you?" She shut the door and Dash complied. Against his better judgement, Danny sat down next to him, staying invisible. Dash hadn't noticed the drop in temperature as Danny sat down, which meant Danny could simply enjoy Dash's presence while he waited for Paulina.

He looked at the blonde to the side of him. He wasn't wearing his usual letterman jacket, but a leather one instead. He was sat back with one leg hooked over the other in a relaxed position. Danny shifted his weight so he sat closer to Dash's side and smiled. That's when Dash leaned in Danny's direction subconsciously. Danny's eyes widened at the sudden movement and moved closer again, about to rest his head on Dash's shoulder when Paulina opened the changing room and made Danny jump back.

"Nope! Disgusting. Come on Dashy." She drifted her hand up his arm and along his back. Danny frowned at this. Dash didn't seem to acknowledge this though and stood up with all the bags in his hands. "Walk me home." Paulina demanded and Dash rolled his eyes.

For the first time in his entire life, Danny was extremely irritated with Paulina. She treated Dash like crap, yet she was closer to him than Danny could ever be in the future. Although that could've been his fault, he still didn't like her flirting with him when he didn't even like her.

They left the building and were followed by a less than happy ghost boy. Danny noticed that as Paulina blabbed on and on, Dash appeared distracted by his thoughts until Paulina asked him a question and got angry when he didn't answer, "Dash?!" She shouted and he jumped, nearly dropping the heavy carriers in the process. "What is making you so distracted?" She stopped and stepped closer to him.

"It's nothing Pauly." Dash said simply, "I promise." He smiled forcefully.

"Don't lie to me." She said softly but with fierceness in her eyes as she took his hand, "please tell me." She said in a low, seductive tone before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Paulina..." Dash said warningly with grit teeth.

"Tell me." She pleaded and pressed her body against his.

"No.." He said quietly.

"Tell me!" She demanded and grabbed his shoulders, digging her sharp nails into his flesh. "Dammit Dash tell me!" She growled at him and Danny couldn't take seeing this.

"He said no Paulina!" He turned visible and pulled Dash away, his shoulders squaring up and stood between the girl and the boy. "If he doesn't want to tell you something, he's not going to tell you!" He said harshly.

All Paulina could do for a while was stare and gape until she did the most expected thing of her to do, "OH MY GOD INVISO-BILL!" She fan-girled and squealed the way she usually did.

"And for the last time it Phantom! Danny. Phantom." He sighed in annoyance.  
"OMG OMG OMG GO OUT WITH ME PLEASE!" She shrieked and her hands turned into fists as she shook them close to her and scrunched her eyes up.

"No." Danny said bluntly which caused Paulina to stop and blink dumbly.

"What?" She asked in disbelief, letting her body go slack and her face upset.

"I said I will not go out with you, especially as you tried to force yourself on a boy against his own will. I'm not being pompous or anything. I just don't like you. To be honest, you're a bit shallow." Sam was good at reading people most of the time and with Paulina she was extremely correct.

Gob-smacked, Paulina stood there silently before looking towards Dash with a frown and snatching her bags away. "Bye Dash." And without another word, Paulina had left with her nose stuck up in the air.

With a quick wave, Dash turned his attention to the ghost boy who stood glaring after the girl. "Bye Dash..." He imitated her with a slightly squeaky accent and looked surprised when Dash gave him a questioning look. "Uh, hi Dash." He chuckled nervously.

"Um, what just happened?" Dash pointed his finger in the direction of Paulina and the ghost boy's. "Between you two just now?" His navy eyes widened in amusement.

"Nothing." He laughed nervously in reply and bit down on his lip, avoiding all possible attempts of eye contact.

"Come on... Tell me!" Dash smiled and shook Danny's cold shoulders roughly.

"Okay okay ouch!" He rubbed his arms and sighed, "Paulina kinda... Pisses me off."

"Wow, I'd never think our hero would hate some one." Dash gave a contemplative expression that had a smirk behind it. "This is definitely out of the ordinary!"

"Stop that. You're reminding me of the Fentons." He teased lightly. Dash, unfortunately, seemed to notice a certain uncomfortable feeling surrounding the boy.

"What's with you and the Fentons?" Dash frowned deeply and crossed his arms.

"Well, uh... They don't like ghosts and they seem to hate me the most. Though the sister doesn't seem to have anything against me. Neither does that Danny kid. But you can't blame them really. Most of the ghosts that decide to attack this place are nasty. The good ones normally stay in the ghost zone, where the Fentons haven't been. I just stay here because the ghost zone isn't my home." Danny shrugged as he explained.

"And obviously you stay here to stalk people like me too." Dash pointed at him accusingly and raised one eyebrow with a challenging smile.

"Uh... I wasn't following you..." Danny tried to hide the embarrassed blush creeping onto his face.

"I'm that interesting am I?" He chuckled in response.

"Well... You are actually." Dash looked at him with widened eyes, "I-I mean the things you do a-are interesting! Like why the hell you hang out with Paulina when she treats you like a piece of meat."

"Hey! She does care about people. She asked me if I was okay today! Well... Pestered really. But still!" Dash grew defensive and folded his arms across his chest.

"Uh huh." Danny said, sounding a little unconvinced. "Well, I might just have to stalk you at school to see whether this point is true."

"I wouldn't mind that. But no one else would be able to see me with you. That's a no no." Dash said assertively.

"Why ever not?" Danny pouted.

"Because they'll want your attention constantly and you wouldn't like that!" He complained.

"In other words, you want me all to yourself." Danny smirked. At that, Dash gaped and his words stumbled before he hid a blush. "Thought as much." Danny enjoyed teasing Dash. It was a change. Instead of acidic arguments, it was simple, harmless teasing; something of which Danny loved to do to Dash a little too much.

"T-That's not my point! Can you imagine all the attention you'd get? I doubt the girls would leave you alone. I'd doubt Fenton'd leave you alone." Dash smirked as he thought about it.

"What do you mean?" Danny narrowed his eyes.

"I mean that Danny's been playing for the other team for a while now. And who wouldn't want a super hero?" Dash snorted and Danny paled.

"Are you saying he's..." An ember left behind from the anger and confusion that Paulina had caused sparked aflame again.

"Homosexual. Yep. It's so obvious. The whole him and Manson thing is a clever little cover up. They've fooled everyone else but not me!" Dash said triumphantly.

"Just because he's a little strange doesn't mean he's gay man! He-he might be... Waiting... Or just fed up with girls... Or just thinking no one would like him for him! It's hard! Being a loser is a damn hard thing to deal with and it's even worse when no one likes you for the person you actually are! You ask them to dance and they scoff and walk away. They laugh at you!" Danny argued, slightly fuming.

"Why wouldn't anyone want to dance with him?" Dash asked quietly.

"'Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on.'" Danny mumbled.

The blonde looked at him with a slightly amused look, "Did you just quote Captain America?" He smiled.

Danny shrugged in response, "he's a great role-model."

"I suppose you have his trading cards too?"

"Hey! I'm not like Phil Coulson!" Danny protested.

"Uh, his first name is 'Agent'" Dash said and Phantom laughed lightly.

"Ha! I'm not the only one that quotes!" Danny waggled his finger in Dash's face while putting his hand on his hip.

"You're not. But you're the only one doing the superhero thing. If that isn't trying to live up to your role-models I don't know what is. Personally, I've always seen you as a Thor-type guy. From another world, yet willing to save the mere mortals on Earth!" He put on a heroic accent but failed miserably.

"I've always seen myself more as a Spider-Man or Captain America." Danny spoke thoughtfully.

"Why's that?"

"Because I haven't always been a superhero. I'm not always strong. But I've always wanted to help." Dash admired the ghost kid for his willingness to help people. But he could never imagine him being any other way apart from being a ghost. He couldn't imagine him human. Or maybe he could and he didn't want to think about it. Before he drifted off into a day dream, Dash came up with a quick sentence to end the awkward silence growing between them.

"And you're a bit of a nerd."

* * *

**r&r please. i love everyone who's nice most of the time ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**HELLO BROS. HERE'S AN UPDATE!**

**This one has nudity dudes. Brief that it is. Oh and there's a kind of OC but... It's... Okay I don't know what he is. But here you go!**

**i don't own phantom del danneh**

:3

* * *

Chapter 8: Me, Myself and I

After a lengthily conversation with each other, the boy and the ghost went their separate ways with a friendly wave goodbye and a feeling of loss in their hearts, which they decided to ignore. As soon as Dash was no longer in his sight, Danny skidded into the nearest alleyway and transformed back into his human self. With a sigh of relief, Danny stuffed his hands into his baggy pockets on his trousers. He kicked a loose pebble along in thought.

It wasn't normal for Danny to want to talk to a particular person this much. In fact, Danny tried to avoid all long chats as to stay away from possible boredom or sleeping-whilst-standing situations. He couldn't have a talk with Tucker for too long before he zoned out from all the technobabble and more often than not he ended up having hard-hitting conversations with Sam. Dash on the other hand, wasn't all about the techno-stuff or the save the world speeches. He was a nice guy who talked about guy stuff. Something Danny enjoyed a lot. Maybe even a little too much.

Dash, though he didn't read comics, liked superhero movies like Danny did. Though Dash admitted to loving Rom-Coms. He was also interested in space, at which Danny smiled. He was excited for their meeting the next day. Danny found himself wanting to know more about Dash. What he liked, what he disliked, everything.

Grinning to himself, Danny pushed through the front door of Fenton works at 8 o'clock, with no one else in sight. He guessed that his sister was at the library and his parents doing some ghost stuff. He took his time going up the stairs, his brain still buzzing with the thoughts of Dash. But, as he drew closer to his bedroom door, he heard a noise and his ghost sense went off. With an irritated scowl, Danny went ghost again and burst through the door with fists glowing. At the sight of his bedroom intruder, he dropped his hands.

"I was wondering when you'd return." Clockwork had his arms crossed with a smirk at the action pose.

"No you weren't. You're the ghost of time. You knew exactly when I'd be back." Danny rolled his eyes over dramatically.

"Ah, perceptive." Clockwork smiled. "But I'm not here for a quick chat."

"I didn't think you would be." Danny put his hands on his hips, "what's up now? Another evil future me bothering your bosses?"

"Nothing so troubling. I merely wish you to witness something. Something that effects you in more than one way." He smirked slightly as if he was keeping an inside joke.

"Right." Danny looked at him in suspicion. "We gonna go then?" He clapped his hands together.

Clockwork nodded, and with a tap of his staff a portal opened behind him. He beckoned Danny before the ghost with the blue eyes disappeared through the swirling mist. Looking a bit unsure, Danny looked at the portal for a bit. He then fetched a Thermos from under his bed and strapped it to his side. Better be prepared for the worst. Clockwork wasn't the type of ghost Danny'd trust all that easily. He stepped into the portal and it closed behind him.

The first thing he saw when he stepped through was not the many clocks, or looking glasses, or futures Clockwork had decorated his lair with. It wasn't even the time ghost himself. It was a pair of familiar ice blue eyes that made him jump back a mile and fall on the floor.

A sorry looking man of around twenty four owned these eyes, along with stark white hair that faded to black at the ends. His skin was as pale as Ember's was and his cheekbones were very defined. He was gangly and unhealthily thin wearing a black t-shirt and pants but sporting no shoes. He floated above the ground and looked concerned as he held out his hand to Danny.

"I-uh-I'm s-sorry. P-please. L-let me h-help you." A low, yet weak voice came from his lips and he flexed his boney hand welcomingly.

Danny eyed the hand with caution but took it anyway, feeling the icy cold touch tingle against him as they pressed palm to palm. Danny brushed himself off and mumbled, "Thank you."

"Ah, Danny, I believe I have to introduce you to someone." Clockwork drifted forward and the man's watery eyes looked scared. "This is Danny. The human half of the alternate you that got ripped from your ghost half. When your ghost half merged with Vlad's he killed that human half. But he is still here. As his own ghost. Kept from moving on by his fear of what could happen to earth when Dan's wrath was let loose on it. He has been through much pain." Clockwork whispered and Danny looked at the alternate Danny with remorse. He noticed that his pockets were full to the brim with photos and drawings. His eyes held the horror of his families deaths and his untimely demise. This spirit was broken and sorry. "He also wants to apologise. To Vlad." Clockwork sighed.

"Why?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why?!" The ghost suddenly interrupted, "why?! I tell you why! Because when I was lonely and depressed he took me in when no one else would have me, and did everything in his power to make sure I was okay. He took me in despite all the dumb fights we had and tried his hardest though I kept rejecting his help. He tried to make me avoid becoming suicidal! Not that he was very helpful in that respect..." He said quietly, "but then, I decided to rip myself in two. Stupid. But he didn't stop me because he cared! He assisted me because he said he hated seeing me so in pain." The ghost wailed and tugged at his flossy hair, "but when that happened my ghost half hurt him! Left him for dead! And it was all my fault! I COULD HAVE MADE HIM HAPPY BUT ALL I DID WAS MAKE HIM WORSE!" He shook with dry, aching sobs not familiar to Danny. His mouth was dry and his head hurt with the sight of the man that would've once been him.  
Without a second thought, Danny hugged the crying man, though his head only reached the middle of his chest, "I'm sorry." Was all he could say before Clockwork coughed as an interruption.

"There is a way we can help him." He added and the halfa looked at him expectantly, "Only this once, we can bring him to life. This is only because as Dan was taken out of time, he was also. If they weren't like this it wouldn't be possible." Danny smiled and looked back at the ghost he hugged, "But this is also a chance to make sure Dan can't be a threat."

"How so?" Danny let go of the expressionless ghost.

"This Danny is sad. He is lonely and has no determination. He is extremely dependant on others although he has been alone for the past ten years. Yet he shows a remarkable amount of compassion towards Plasmius. Dan on the other hand is independent, determined and has no love. I believe that by merging the two ghosts, we can create a safe one. A stable being."

"Getting rid of Dan is all I want." The pale ghost sighed breathlessly.

"How can we merge them?" Danny said in interest.

"Here, in my clocktower lies the Stagnum Renascentia(*). It is a pool, where a pair of ghosts walk into it, it will bring them to life. It can only bring the ghost to life if there is a pair of entities willing to combine. It has been done only once before. When they come out, they will be one being, returned to the point at which they were both alive. But, this means that they will not become a halfa. They will be a full human, three quarters Danny Fenton, one quarter Vlad Masters. They will in effect, not be the same person they were before."

Clockwork rested his hand on the white ghost's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Yes. Anything. Please." He pleaded tiredly. Clockwork smiled softly though with a look of pity in his eyes.

"Well, lets go get that crazy son of a bitch!" Danny announced gleefully.

"That son of a bitch used to be you and I, you know. You're insulting yourself." The former halfa said.

"Oh... Yeah" Danny said awkwardly and Clockwork chuckled, floating away to the room where Dan was kept in his thermos.

The two other ghosts that looked extremely similar, followed silently, with Danny looking at the other every once and a while. He was somewhat relieved that he hadn't gone through what he had. Never once had it crossed his mind about what happened to his human half and how they dealt with the loss of his family in the Nasty Burger explosion. He never once thought that they didn't pass through. But something was obviously keeping him back.

"Daniel." Clockwork said and Danny joined his side, "He has formed a want to make it up to Vlad no matter what. Even though Vlad knows nothing of what he has been through." Danny nodded, "so, I believe that he'll want to meet Vlad at some point or another and you'll need to go with him. For both moral support and to stop Vlad if he is offended. Do you understand?"

"Yes." His mouth and throat was dry with dread.

They passed into the room, with a kind of moat surrounding a island of stone in the centre. Upon a pedestal stood a dented and worn Fenton Thermos which brought back terrible and painful memories.

"He will not attack. I know this much." Clockwork said, walking along a long stone pathway.

The white ghost opened his mouth to ask why when Danny shushed him and whispered that, "he is the ghost of time, and can therefore see what will happen, what has happened and all the possibilities."

The three reached the centre and Clockwork picked up the thermos, earning a muffled complaint in response. Clockwork smirked at that. "You better behave Dan. Or I won't hesitate to put out your fire once and for all." He threatened.

"Meddling freaking meddler getting in my damn way. LET ME KILL THE BOY ALREADY!" A gruff, familiar voice rang out from the container.

"No. I will let you out, but only if you promise to do what we agreed earlier."

"Mnmn..." An illegible noise came from the thermos.

"What was that?"

"Fine okay? I'll behave so that I can have a life again!" The baritone voice growled.

"Promise?"

"PROMISE I SWEAR OKAY NOW SHUT IT AND LET ME OUT!" He yelled furiously. Clockwork smiled and looked up at Danny and the white ghost before twisting the cap off the thermos and discarding it.

In a cloud of red smoke Dan flooded out of the container and reformed as his usual ghostly self. The pale blue skinned ghost stood tall at 6ft 7inches with flaming white hair pulled back into a low ponytail. Muscles stood out pronounced under a black and white hazmat suit altered to his own style. Pointed ears stood out either side of his head. The most prominent thing about him though were his bright crimson eyes, that were both entrancing and fear-enduring at the same time. Those eyes were full of anger, determination and loss.

"What's up?" He said uncaringly and glared at Danny who didn't so much as flinch.

"You are. Up your own arse I mean." Danny quipped and crossed his arms.  
"And so what if I am?" Dan drawled back.

"Don't argue." Clockwork said through grit teeth.

"Who's tall, white and loathsome over there." Dan asked as he looked at the other ghost who stood with a burning hatred in his eyes.

"I'm the human half of Danny you killed." He answered, his voice strong though tired.

"Not so human anymore." Dan shrugged. "So, are we going to get this over and done with? Before I change my mind."

The three looked to Clockwork who had seemed to have disappeared, "what the-" The pale one said before being cut short by a large hand pushing him into the moat of glowing water along with Dan, both with odd yelps. The two ghosts fell in and sunk below the surface of the pool with not so much of a little splash. Danny and Clockwork peered over the side with interested looks.

"Well, what now?" Danny asked impatiently before the Stagnum Renascentia glowed brighter, flickering between red, blue and green violently before settling for a golden colour. But nothing happened immediately afterwards. Danny crouched down and looked into the reflection of the water. "Dan?" He asked into the pool.

A hand appeared out of the water and gripped the side of the stone pathway that Danny and Clockwork were on. Danny flinched at the sudden movement as another hand came out of the pool. The snow haired teen looked up to Clockwork who nodded.

Danny grasped the extended hand and tugged as hard as he could until before him lay a panting, tense, water drenched man. A naked one. Danny didn't really have any problem with that though to be honest. His head turned upwards to look above him. He had violet eyes, similar to Sam's, probably caused by the mix of the white ghosts ice blue eyes and Dan's blood red ones. He had the same face shape as Danny, though slightly longer, with the same hair colour. His hair though, was longer and the bangs were shorter and spiked more than Danny's though it was hard to tell with the man being soaked to the core. His complexion was pale, but bright and clear and he was smaller than Dan in terms of muscles.

"You wanna help a guy up?" He asked in a warm voice with a soft smile. Danny nodded and pulled him up before looking in any direction apart from at him.

"Clothes please?" He asked Clockwork politely, though showed no attempt at covering himself.

The time ghost picked a silken cloak out from underneath his own one and draped it over the man. "You need a new name." He announced.

"How about Darren? It's near Danny, so you'll recognise it immediately but it's different so no one will be suspicious about it." Phantom suggested with an awkward smile which the other returned.

"Sounds good to me." Darren shrugged, "Darren... Darren, Darren Parker? Easy." He pulled the cloak onto himself more. "I need new clothes. I can't walk around in just a cloak. I'll be an easy target for rapists."

"Darren. I don't think anyone would want to mess with you, seriously. But you'll probably have some admirers." Danny said assuredly as they walked out of the room where the Stagnum Renascentia was.

"I don't want to find anyone. I'm not interested in admirers. I want to see Vlad." Darren's pace quickened, and his cloak flew off from his running.

"Calm down man!" Danny shushed and picked up the material before spotting a strange mark on Darren's back, between his shoulder blades. In a puckered up, white scar, a shape that looked like a cross with dots in between the lines, lay on his skin just below his damp hair. "What's this?" He ran his fingers across the flesh and Darren hissed in slight pain.

"It's the mark that the Stagnum Renascentia has left on him. Vlad might ask about that by the way." Clockwork, now standing as a six year old drifted past.

"That would've been handy to know." Darren gave an exasperated look that was shared with Danny before he picked up the cloak again and wrapped it around himself. "Can I see Vlad now please? It's been ages and I miss him." He asked more forcefully than before.

"What's with your obsession with Vlad anyway?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"He was the only one who tried to change m- I mean Dan back to a good person after the Nasty Burger incident. He cared so much. All those years alone... They were made worse by the memory of seeing Vlad shake and shiver at the sight of me. He was terrified. I wanted to go to him and hug him. To do anything to make it better. But I couldn't." Darren kept his eyes to the floor. "I love him." His voice cracked slightly.

Danny's eyes widened and his heart felt a jog of realisation. Of course he would love the Frootloop. That one quarter of Vlad inside him was enough of him to show the self obsessiveness Vlad had. This was made stronger by their time spent together and their time apart. After you've done something like that to someone who you care about and cares about you so much in return; there's no way you can go on without saying sorry. No way you cannot feel that you need them. Especially when you have no one else.

Danny looked up at Darren, "The Frootloop I know is not the one from your other timeline." Darren's face saddened. "But that doesn't mean that he won't love you too." He said quickly and meaningfully.

Darren snorted a short laugh, "Thanks shorty." He ruffled Danny's scruffy hair, earning a complaint.

Clockwork turned into a room off the corridor and the two went in after him. A telephone box stood proud while other strange objects and vehicles stood in it's shadow. Danny couldn't help but wonder why he had collected these things. The time ghost opened the door to the blue box and drifted in. After a couple of minutes, he came out with an armful of clothes including a leather jacket, a tie, a multicoloured scarf and several bow ties.

"I just picked up anything that might fit you. You are extremely tall though so I'd be careful picking out." He dropped the clothes onto the floor in a pile before shutting the wooden door and locking it, popping the key into his cloak pocket.

"Why would I need a hula skirt?" Darren asked, crouching down over the pile.

"Maybe Vlad likes cross dressing?" Danny suggested with a cheeky smirk.

"Haha." Darren replied sarcastically and dug through the pile. "Danny, help me I don't know what's suitable for a man in this time era anymore." He pulled the scrawny halfa down to his height and kept his eyes on the clothes.

Danny smirked at the chance to dress someone up. Vlad'd get a surprise. That was certain. "See Darren, you want a really low V-neck muscle shirt..."

* * *

Vlad was sat with his back straight at his desk looking into his many monitors that showed feeds of places Danny went to on regular occasion. He was currently staring at a particular monitor with a pen in his mouth as he chewed it. Daniel hadn't returned home yet. It was eight o'clock when Vlad spotted a brief flash of light on the image followed by a slight glitch and then nothing. Vlad figured that the bug was faulty. He cursed himself for putting a glitchy bug in his arch-nemesis's room of all places.

He was more irritated about the fact that his little Badger had not returned yet. Had he told that blonde jock about his secret? Had he turned Daniel in to the Guys in White? Was that why he hadn't come back after a whole day out? Vlad sighed at himself and massaged his temples. He shouldn't over think matters like this. He could be out doing his silly little patrols for ghosts.

He pushed himself up away from the hard metal table and walked away up the winding stairs to the first floor of his Castle. The Packers-themed colour scheme did not distract him, although it had caught Danny's eye at the first sight of it. Unknowing of what to do, he picked up several newspapers and sorted through them, scoffing at most articles.

And then the doorbell rang.

A chime rang through the halls loudly and made Vlad drop his literature. His head flicked up to see the front doors. Vlad suddenly grew frightened. It could've been the Guys in White. He straightened out his suit and stepped towards it. He would have to answer anyway. The person on the other side of the door knocked loudly and Vlad decided that it was better to head the problem straight on than avoid it. He stretched out his neck in a vulture-like fashion and fisted his hands before striding up to the door and thrusting it open.

He was faced with Daniel and one young man, who looked as though he wanted to pounce. "What're you doing here Daniel? Who is this?" His gripped stayed strong on the door handle as he looked at the familiar looking man who stood strong and smiled.

"This, Vlad, is Darren. He is the reason I am here." Danny looked at Darren as if asking for permission to continue. "Darren is the result of a horrible event that happened in an alternate timeline. He is basically me. But, he is me split in two, with one mixed with your ghost half and one killed but then remerged only a while ago. Darren has... An attachment towards you. You looked after him when our family and friends died and helped him as much as he could." Danny tried to explain.

Darren played with his hands and swept his side bangs out of his eyes and adjusted his small ponytail tied at the nape of his neck. His mesmerising violet eyes showed a certain shyness but his clothing said otherwise. True to his word, Danny had made Darren wear a white skin tight t-shirt and black skinny legged trousers. A pair of blue sneakers and a leather jacket slung over his right arm completed the look.

Vlad couldn't help but wonder why Daniel had brought such a handsome young man to him unless he was the target in yet another horrible prank. "Nice to meet you Darren." He outstretched his hand and received a pleasantly warm one in return.

"You look exactly the same as I remember you Vladdy." Purple eyes searched his own Atlantic blue ones. His voice was deep and warm; a truly comforting tone.

"Yes... Well why exactly are you here?" Vlad said with slight wariness over the way Darren looked at him.

"Because I cannot look after him, none of my friends can and you seem to be the only person he actually wants to be with." Danny said matter-of-factly and rested his hand on his hip, "give him a hug. He's been waiting ten years for one." Danny urged and Vlad glared at him.

Before Vlad could say any more, Darren brought the shorter man into a bear hug with his head rested on Vlad's. He breathed in through his nose and smelt the all too familiar smell of cologne, cut grass and cakes. God knows why he smelt of cakes. Darren hummed pleasantly and smiled with closed eyes. Vlad stood there rigid for a while before he thought 'what the heck' and hugged back. It wasn't like Danny was expecting anymore. Right?

Vlad looked up at the younger halfa too see him smiling and awing at the pair. Vlad got it now. Danny was trying to pair him up. It wasn't that Vlad didn't find Darren attractive. In fact, he believed Darren to be extremely attractive; he just didn't like Daniel assuming that all he wanted was a man.

"So? Can you take him?" Danny asked quite forcefully.

Vlad looked in deep thought as he looked down. He felt Darren running his fingers through his ponytail and nuzzling against his head. It was strange... But quite frankly welcome. Vlad hadn't had any human contact that he appreciated for twenty years. Sure Jack had hugged him recently, but that felt awful and Vlad wished to forget those hugs. Twenty years of no relationships, no partners, no one to even talk to about personal things made Vlad think. What if Daniel was actually trying to help him?

Daniel was sacrificing something by trying to get Vlad and Darren together. If Darren was gay, that meant that Danny had a strong likelihood that he was too. Vlad has known that Danny could get quite sensitive about matters such as this. "I will take him." Vlad said and found that Darren pulled back with the most damn adorable smile Vlad had ever seen. With his hands on Vlad's shoulders his eyes were wide and hopeful and Vlad swore he could see a tear.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Vladdy!" He fussed and hugged him again quickly before letting go, "We can do so much! Like chess and swimming and meeting Maddie the Cat. I like cats." Darren babbled excitedly and Danny laughed.

"These are his only clothes, so he'll need to get some new ones. He doesn't own anything except his pictures so you might want to get that sorted. I'm visiting frequently to see if he's killed you yet which I don't think he will do but still... Oh and be nice to him. He's been through more than the two of us put together." Danny said and chuckled slightly at his own words.

"I'll get him settled in." Vlad agreed. "Watch your back Daniel. Don't do something stupid." Vlad walked in but Darren stayed behind and looked at Danny.

"You know." He said with a sneaky grin on his face. "If I am gay, then you have a three in four chance that you might be. Keeping in mind this excludes Vlad." He winked, "see you Danny!" Darren smiled and shut the door behind him.

Danny stood, his eye twitching slightly as he saw Vlad smile at Darren in a meaningful way. That was the second time someone had told him that and now he had been told by a guy who was sort of himself, that he could be gay. Danny couldn't help but consider it. He had never had luck with girls and when he did, he didn't feel like anything was happening. It didn't make him feel any better. When Sam and he had done the fake out make outs, it was meaningless. With Valerie, meaningless. With Paulina, meaningless.

Confused by the events of the day, Danny transformed into his ghostly alter-ego with a slight pain in his heart from seeing Vlad finally getting someone. Even the Frootloop who'd been chasing after the same woman for twenty years had gotten the chance to be with someone who cares for him. Yet Danny, who'd sacrificed his high school education and life to saving and helping people, was still alone. Still waiting. Maybe it was time to search. He flew into the air, hoping to get home before curfew.

"Be okay Little Badger." Vlad said looking through his window with a sigh until he was pulled away by his new house-mate.

* * *

**_*Stagnum Renascentia: Pool of Rebirth (according to the always untrustworthy google translate) In Latin._**

**Anyone know a way of getting rid of flipping massive spiders? They dont seem to acknowledge by death threats.**

**R&R PLS!**


	9. Chapter 9

**_SORRY!_**

**_i was in Brighton on an awesome holiday. I also went to The Warner Bros Studio Tour in London. IT WAS AMAZING._**

**_I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT A BIN._**

* * *

Chapter 9: Uncomfortable situations

The following Monday, after yet another enjoyable meeting with Dash which went as smoothly as usual, Danny had pleasant dreams. Well, until his alarm went off I mean. Danny's routine went as it usually did. He got up way too late, rushed to put on his clothes, brushed through his hair quickly and skidded out without so much of a word to his parents. Knowing full well that Sam, Tuck and Jazz were already at school, Danny cursed himself for being such an idiot and patrolling for ten hours straight the night before.

Even transforming into his ghostly alter ego to try to get to school on time didn't help. He arrived in Home Room at exactly one minute past the bell. "Tardy. See me in detention Mr Fenton." Mr lancer sighed and scribbled the messy haired boy's name down. With a rather depressed sigh, Danny slumped into his desk chair and slung his bag off his back. He buried his head in his hands just as a small, wet projectile hit the back of his neck, getting caught in his hair.

With an aggravated growl Danny turned around to see Dash grinning silently and keeping his head down. He didn't know whether to shout or whether to laugh. He fisted his hands hard as he glared at Dash, fingernails digging into his palms painfully.

"I know Mr Baxter is the school pretty boy Mr Fenton but that doesn't give you an excuse to stare at him." Mr Lancer's mocking tone came extremely close to his ear, making Danny jump (why was he so damn jumpy?!) and unlock his gaze.

"I-uh-I-" he stuttered and a strange blush ran across his cheeks. The entire class looked at him and laughed. All except Sam and Tucker who looked at him with sympathy. Dash gave him a smirk and laughed with his friends. Danny began to grow dazed as he looked at Dash again. He had to pry himself away. "I got hit by a spitball and I believe Dash to be the culprit."

Dash's smile dropped at Danny's attempt to snitch on him, "You have no proof Fenton!" He yelled at him.

"The spitball in my hair begs to differ. You have a pocket full of paper and a straw. I don't lie." Danny hissed back.

"Enough. Empty your pockets Dashiel." Mr Lancer ordered and crossed his arms across him chest. Dash complied reluctantly and out fell the resources used to publicly humiliate Danny during class. "Detention." The balding teacher picked up the items with a look of distaste. Dash sent a death glare at Danny. It looked like they were spending detention together.

Danny's face stayed straight as he picked the wet ball out from his silky hair. He didn't care that people were noticing his focused look, he just wanted to think about the very something that had been bothering him all weekend. He wanted to know if what Darren and Dash suggested was true. He always thought himself as straight, heck, he still did for the time being but girls just weren't... Interesting; in that sense. He had never wanted to spend time with a girl for an extended period of time. It felt wrong.

The next class went rather smoothly, with no interruptions from spitballs, taunts or ghost attacks. He actually managed to get some notes down for once. Though much of his 'notes' were little drawings down the side of his page. He could feel Dash's heated stare on his back the whole time. He was sure he was going to get a beating later.

Danny made sure he ran to Physical Education as fast as he could so he could change and get out before Dash got in, to avoid an early punch or two. He liked that he got attention from Dash, but this kind of attention wasn't really needed. As much as Danny liked it... On rare occasions. He pulled off his usual clothes quickly and dressed in the red shorts and white t-shirt expected of them and dashed into the sports hall before collapsing onto a bench. Ms Tetslaff was more than a little surprised at his earliness and told him to run laps around the hall much to his discontent.

It wasn't long until the rest of his class came in; all boys. Tucker ran to his side straight away, "You seemed a bit tense earlier Danny. Everything okay?" He rested his hand and Danny flinched slightly.

"Yeah... I'm fine." He looked up from his feet which still ran and saw Tucker's hand slip off him.

"We're talking later." Tucker said forcefully and Danny couldn't do anything but huff in agreement. Danny found jogging around a little too easy for his liking.

He'd never been amazing at sports, but ever since he had gained ghost powers, his speed, strength and agility from his ghost half had leaked into his human half. He no longer found sports too much effort. Still, he had to keep up appearances and keep away attention towards his unusual statistics.

Danny heard a deep chuckle and he suddenly became alert as he saw a particular blond jock run past him, giving him a brief evil grin before looking ahead again. Danny nearly tripped over his own feet as his heart began to pound more and his eyes widened. He watched as one muscly leg after another ran further and further away from him. Dash ran with grace, but also with brute strength. His breathing suddenly became the only thing he could hear except his beating heart and his eyes drifted up and fixed on Dash's behind. He found himself running faster and faster just so he wouldn't lose sight of Dash.

His surroundings blurred slightly and he was so focused on Dash that he didn't realise just how fast he was running. "Mr Fenton!" Ms Tetslaff's voice said in surprise and Danny snapped out of the trance a little too late. He came so close to Dash that he tripped the other up and fell with him.

They collapsed on the floor with Dash lead face up and Danny face down on top of him. As Danny blinked slightly in shock, he looked up to find his arms on top of Dash's and his legs on the others also, effectively pinning him down. He also noticed that his entire weight was pressed down on Dash and his face, after pulling himself up slightly, was directly above Dash's. Now totally aware of the situation, Danny tensed and looked in horror at Dash's lazy dark eyes.

Finding himself getting extremely uncomfortable below and getting a strange feeling in his stomach Danny suddenly glared in extreme anger and growled threateningly before pushing himself off the shocked jock. "STAY AWAY FROM ME DASH!" He yelled strangely, his voice slightly lower.

"Mr Fenton!" Ms Tetslaff shouted at Danny's reaction and gave him a mean look while the class gathered around the commotion.

The red haze crossing Danny's vision flickered away unexpectedly and Danny no longer felt like a rage monster. Instead, he shook slightly in a way that he hadn't done since before he became half ghost. "I-I'm sorry. Please excuse me." He said weakly, though the lowness of his voice remained. Before anyone could say anything else, Danny crumpled over in pain as an electric-like sensation ran throughout his body.

"Danny! Dude are you okay?" Tucker ran up to him and looked at his best friend in concern.

"N-need to, argh, sit." Danny managed to get out as the sports teacher helped Tucker take him to a bench. After a few deep breaths Danny relaxed against the wall with his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Are you okay Daniel?" The teacher asked worriedly.

"I'm okay now." He nodded quickly though he looked exhausted.

"You'd better sit out for the rest of the lesson. Don't hesitate to call us if you feel worse." She said and pulled Tucker away from his friend.

* * *

In the locker room, Danny found himself changing slowly, frowning at himself as he did so. He had faced pain beyond anything anyone could imagine. He had been electrocuted, whipped, sliced at, tortured, but nothing could compare to what he had just experienced. All through his veins he felt a burning sensation, mixed with the feeling that he was melting, being stabbed amongst many other things. Yet it only lasted for a few seconds and afterwards, he felt completely painless, apart from the mild aching in his joints and the tiredness. And this had all happened after he had landed on Dash.

Dash...

Danny looked out the corner of his eye, clutching his t-shirt to his chest and spotted the great big bulk of a teen chatting to his friends casually while taking his time getting changed. A thin layer of sweat coated his topless chest and his normally combed back hair fell in his eyes and stuck to his forehead. But Danny just wanted to see him closer. He knew Dash more than he used to, but he wasn't as close to Dash as he wanted to be.

Dash noticed Danny looking at him and stared directly back. Danny hid his face in the locker and rushed to pull his sneakers on as fast as he could when he felt himself be lifted back by a tug of his arm and was now standing with his back to the metal. Looming over him was a cross looking Dash, still just as topless as Danny was.

"What're you looking at Fenton?" He spat out in a way that hurt Danny, after he spoke so nicely to him when he was Phantom.

"I wasn't looking at anything." Danny defended himself but Dash insisted on pressing closer.

"You're damn right you weren't because if you were I would not take mercy on you right now. You'd be pulp Fentina. If you ever touch me again, I will personally make it so any anal would be out of the question for you. You got that?" Danny flinched and grabbed his shirt closer to his chest, shrinking away from the intense heat. Yet again with the accusations.

"I-I got it." He said with his voice still different to usual.

"Good." Dash smiled.

... And then abruptly punched the butterflies in Danny's stomach unconscious.  
After they were fully dressed, they left Danny alone in the locker room, half dressed and unsure of where he was at. He was petrified to say the least. Danny was afraid that if Dash pressed any closer to him, he would feel something he would not like in the least. Heck, Danny'd be more dead than he was already!

He sat on the uncomfortable wooden bench, knees drawn up under his chin while his hands were crossed over his stomach comfortingly. The ache was still there, in the bottom of it, but it was worse than before because Dash was gone.  
This is when Danny realised they might be more right then he first thought. He couldn't be completely straight if a boy being close to him made him feel more needy than any girl had ever made him feel.

But he liked girls right? They were different. The curves, the legs, the chest etcetera were all he liked weren't they? Girls were soft and expressive. They smelled nice too, the ones he had liked in the past he meant. But what did he mean by 'like'? He 'liked' Paulina, Valerie and even Sam at one point but what did that mean? They were all pretty, they weren't pathetic, they were strong and sure of themselves, they were all very opinionated. But apart from that, Danny couldn't see why he liked them.

He liked Dash though. He was open, fun, interesting, willing to spend time with him, different, confusing, kind, relatable, amazing, handsome, attractive...  
'Oh.'

Trust freaking Danny Fenton to be gay for Dash Baxter. His stomach ached at the thought of it, making the statement even more serious. What? He didn't only have to be a half-ghost freak, but he had to have feelings for some guy who would beat the crap out of him at any given moment?

Talk about masochistic. 'I do kind of like it though...' He thought and glared at himself internally for the stupid idea. But being that close to Dash was unbearable. There was no denying that encounters like this had happened before, with that time where they were shrunk stuck in his mind. Dash lay on top of him that day and Danny didn't know what to think. But he liked it.  
Danny groaned and hugged himself more. His joints ached more fiercely than before. That freak out in the gym was obviously not a good sign. Straight after he felt... That, as well. Hell, even his voice sounded strange. Something wasn't right. Dash had done something for Danny to hurt like that. The gut-punch wasn't extremely helpful either.

Forcing himself up, Danny pulled his shirt on just as the tardy bell rang loud and clear, signalling a break. He swung his bag onto his back and slammed the locker unintentionally hard. As soon as he shut the locker room door behind him, he was mobbed by Sam, Tucker and Jazz, all looking a bit more than just worried.

"Danny!" Jazz said with a furrowed brow.

"What?" Danny asked quietly and kept his hair covering his eyes.

"Don't what me! Tucker said you had some kind of an episode back there!" She panicked and looked her brother up and down in worry.

"I did not have an episode." He sent a glare Tucker's way, "I had a stomach ache is all."

"Do freaky sounding voices come with stomach aches?" Sam asked and crossed her arms, looking at him in a judging way.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You sound weird dude. Like, you're hitting puberty all over again weird with extra lowness." Tucker exaggerated. "And crackles." He added enthusiastically.

Danny gave him a look and shook his head, "You don't think I noticed?" He sighed. "I just don't feel as amazing as I usually do." He said sarcastically. "Can we hide somewhere? I don't want to be punched anymore." He said defeatedly. Sam and Tucker looked at each other before nodding and ignoring Jazz's protests. With a distressed flurry, she ran off to the library to attend to her quickly mounting school work.

Running silently, the three found themselves sitting behind a bunch of trees on the school grounds, hidden from any teachers, ghosts or bullies. With Danny sat in the middle of the two, he lay his head against the wood and closed his eyes before Sam spoke through his silence.

"Danny. We know something's up. You'd better tell us before my boot gets lodged in your butt." She threatened in her usual tone.

"I don't know..." Danny said unsurely.

"Come on dude! You scared me! You owe me an explanation!" Tucker insisted and gave him his best puppy dog eyes.

"Stop that now." Danny ordered and Tuck dropped the act, "and fine. I'll tell you. Well, you know I told you about what happened on Saturday?" He rubbed his thumbs together and looked at the grass.

"Yes..." Sam urged with a roll of her hands.

"Well, um, twice that day it was suggested that I... I mean, they kind of questioned my sexuality. Twice." He held up two fingers and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Who did?" Tucker asked.

"Darren and uh, Dash." Danny replied sheepishly.

"So the guy that basically was you once and the guy you want to be friends with are both saying that you're gay." Tucker asked and Danny nodded. "You don't need to worry about what they say. I can't imagine you gay." He smiled. "I have to go somewhere, see you guys." Tucker waved goodbye and left.

Sam then looked to Danny, cocking an eyebrow and leaning towards him, "So, you like Dash do you?" Sam smirked slightly and hooked a piece of midnight hair behind her ear.

"W-what?! Why would you even suggest that?! I don't LIKE him, he's a good friend and all but..." He saw Sam's disbelieving expression and gave up, "okay. I may like him a little bit."

Sam gasped and slapped his shoulder with her jaw slack, "Oh my like, m, g. I knew it!" She said in a way that made her almost seem like Paulina gossiping.

"What?!" Danny looked at her with wide eyes.

"Oh please. You go on about him all the time and stare at him when he walks past shows it. Not to mention you're completely ignoring any attention from girls." Sam answered.

"I don't get any attention from girls. What are you talking about?" Danny said miserably.

"Come on Danny! Everyone can see you're not like the other guys! You actually don't think about sex or football all the time. You care. That's something girls like. Plus you share a likeness with Danny Phantom." She shared a grin with him.

"Well, I don't notice that." Danny said with a laugh. "I think Dash and Darren are right. I... Girls don't interest me but, Dash does. Soooooo much." Danny admitted uncomfortably, "that's why I didn't want to tell Tucker. Like he said, he can't imagine me gay."

"You'll have to tell him. Not now, but he'll be upset if he isn't told. He'll accept you for who you are. He did after the accident didn't he?" Sam said assuredly."He's your best friend. You used to climb trees together; steal my cuddly spider together; be losers together. You've been through thick and thin. He's not going to dump you just because you like getting down with the same gender."

"That's one way to put it." Danny chuckled, now feeling slightly reassured. "So, you don't find it... Weird?"

Sam looked at Danny curiously and leant forward to see him. With narrow eyes, she analysed the boy from his scruffy black hair to his worn red sneakers. "Nope. Not weird at all. Come on Danny! We live in Amity Park! The freakiest place on Earth. We're haunted by ghosts on a daily basis; there's a portal to the Ghost Zone- another dimension; in YOUR basement and you think being homosexual is weird? Yes. You are weird. But that's not because you're gay. It's because you are our town's hero. Weird is good. I should know." Sam said proudly and closed her eyes with a proud smile before getting the wind knocked out of her by a hug of Danny's accord.

"You're a kick-ass friend you know that?" Danny complimented into her shoulder.

"And you're clueless." She laughed and pulled back. "Now, what're you going to do about Dash?"

"Well, I want to meet him again. As Phantom I mean. I'll see what happens from there." He wrung his hands in nervousness, his eyes full of dread and anticipation for what was to come.

"Calm down about it. Just... Be yourself." Sam advised, "you have to see whether or not he accepts your weirdness. The extra weirdness, not the whole 'I'm half ghost half human and I save the town on a daily basis' weird." She picked up her bag disguised as a spider and pulled it onto her back with one handle. "It's best we get to class. We don't want Mr Faluca getting into one of those tantrums he has." She held out her hand which Danny took willingly.

"Thanks." He said gratefully as he helped himself up using her hand and the strong tree behind him. Danny brushed his jean pants off and swung his backpack onto his back. "Thank you, for being so understanding." He smiled.

"Ah, well, I gave up on the possibility of you being straight as soon as you said. Although I have had a sneaky suspicion recently." Sam gave him a smirk and a naughty look. "Shall we see whether or not you are definitely gay?" She turned around to face him and Danny looked confused. "Let me elaborate." Sam stepped towards him and reduced the space between them dramatically.

"Uh Sam. What are y-" Danny began to complain before he found himself pressed up against the hard tree with Sam's own warm lips against his. She grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips; pulling him into her with her own hands.

"What do you want Danny?" She asked in a low tone, pulling away from the forced kiss with an expressionless face.

"I want you to get off me! Dammit Sam! I just told you I thought I was gay and this is how you react! I don't want it." He shifted away from her with a scared look. "I like Dash."

"Yep. Definitely gay. I love how you said 'I like Dash'. That was cute." She said sarcastically. "Oh, fair warning, try and get Dash to use some mouthwash or chew gum. Some breath spray. He tasted like failure last time I checked." And with that, Sam hopped away quite merrily, making some Jocks run away in the process.

Danny stood there, unsure of what just happened with his mouth agape until he was surprised into reality again by the tardy bell. As he ran towards his next class, he was busy thinking about how much he ached and clicked as he took each stride. He'd have to pull himself together if he were to actually be productive in his feelings towards Dash. Yet again, he got into class late, though Mr Faluca was slightly more sympathetic than expected. Sam kept giving him cheeky smiles which made him even more confused. He decided to keep his head down from then on.

When the school day ended however, Danny couldn't keep his eyes off Dash who sat directly in front of him during detention. The jock stayed silent as he fumed chewing on his pencil thoughtfully and constantly glaring at the desk. Although Danny could only see the back of his head for an hour, he still found his presence a little unbearable. Danny's fingers gripped the desk so tightly that he made indents in the graffiti-ed wood and his eyes began to feel dry from lack of blinking.

There was no doubt that Dash looked cute when he was angry. To know that he, Danny, had affected Dash in that way was a bit satisfying. He leaned forward over the table top, yearning for the warmth and closeness of Dash. He wanted to look into those deep, dark endless blue eyes that reminded him of the sea so much. Danny sighed loudly, catching the attention of the blonde haired girl sitting next to him. She gave him a questioning look, pushing her glasses up her button nose a notch, before shaking her head and looking back down at her book. Danny just hoped the girl wouldn't catch on to his actions and start rumours. There was already a rumour of him being gay; it'd be ten times worse if there was a rumour he had the hots for the star quarter-back.

After a long detention hour, Danny decided to head straight home and lie down as to rest his aching joints. The aching was getting worse again and the closer he got to home, the more he felt like he was going to collapse. With a spinning head, he stumbled upstairs, calling out to his mother that he was going to bed and shut the door behind him.

He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the soft pillows. Danny had a silent snooze; uninterrupted by anything. Yet, if anyone walked in, they would find him thrashing about, muttering and sweating.

The ghost boy was enthralled in a deep, long nightmare that would change him.

* * *

**_Well there you go._**

**_cliffie. _**

**_Hahahahahhahahah. _**

**_R&R please because I love you lot. I do I do I do._**


	10. Chapter 10

_**YAY AN UPDATE ALREADY IT MUST BE THE END OF THE WORLD!**_

_**No it isn't. This is a one off. This chapter feels... Lacking. I'll try to make it up to you guys ^^"**_

_**i don't own stuff of the Danny phantom sort.**_

_**enjoy!**_

Chapter 10: Tall, dark and... Um, who are you?

_Danny found himself in the Casper High corridors once more, standing in front of his locker alone. Danny looked left and right, up and down the long hall, to see no one in sight. He wondered where everyone was. Of course it would be a school day, it was Tuesday and the school was open. Well, he thought so anyway. To be honest, he didn't know how he got there in the first place. Either he had an awful memory or something was seriously up._

_He had no books, no bag, no belongings with him, only himself standing in nothing but a loin cloth. Okay, now it was just damn strange. He shut his empty locker and walked around the school, searching for any signs of human life. Danny looked into every classroom, every toilet, every crevasse until finally, he ended up in the last room in the school._

_Cautiously, he opened up the door to the locker room. The room was empty, as to be expected by now and the lights were off. The raven haired boy turned to switch them on, but found that when he did, the room was not brightened. The lights were not working which rendered Danny in the pitch black room. Out of pure curiosity and against his best interests, he walked through the darkness, sparking up a ball of ectoplasm in his hand to light his way. He could only just see the objects around him, lit up by the eery green glow. His stomach churned uncomfortably as he spotted a note pinned to his locker. _

_Reaching out and tearing the piece of ripped parchment from its place, Danny noticed the elegant black writing written on it. He frowned as he looked at the scrawl and lifted his hand up closer so he could read it:_

_'Daniel Fenton has now discovered his official mate and is soul-bonded with a human of the Living Dimension. This shall be documented as the first official halfa and human bonding in ghostly and human history. Under the usual protocol, Daniel will alter to the required state needed to attract his mate, so named Dashiel Baxter. This will effect both his human and ghost form. (as predicted by the Observant Council) Congratulations Master Fenton.'_

_As he finished reading he felt his heart clench and his muscles tense. The room became cold and an electric buzz filled the air. Something was seriously wrong here. His ghost sense wasn't going off. It wasn't a ghost._

_His hands tightened on the paper as a large hand clasped over his shoulder and a warm breath drifted over his neck. He shivered as the being spoke "You chose me Danny." Danny gasped as he realised who it was. _

_Dash turned Danny around and pinned him against the lockers with a creepy smile. He looked him up and down hungrily before letting him go, but not letting there be enough space between them for him to move. He lay his hand against Danny's chest, just over his heart and felt it beat quickly beneath his touch. "So it is true? You have marked me as your own?" He brought his hand away. "Well that's unexpected Fenton." He smiled._

_"D-Dash... I- I..." Danny said in fear, getting so distracted that his ectoball fizzled out. _

_"You have taken my free will to be with someone else. We are now bonded. So, you must adapt to me. The Ghost Zone has chosen that you grow to fit my personality. You will grow in different ways too... But you'll see that for yourself soon enough. It's a give and take situation." Dash said with a dull tone._

_"B-but-" Danny stumbled over his words._

_"I wish you luck on trying to get me." Dash grinned a grin that made Danny's heart skip a beat. "I think I'll put up a fight." _

_With that, Dash opened the locker behind the ghost boy and pushed him in, closing the door behind him. But Danny didn't find a shock of pain as his back hit the metal wall. Instead, he found himself floating in a place that looked an awful lot like the Ghost Zone. He tried to control his floating but found himself caught in a current that he couldn't pull away from._

_On his back, he looked in the direction he was being pulled. Straight ahead were all of his ghostly enemies, looking ready to beat him into a pulp. His baby blues widened and he tried to direct himself away, his arms moving in a windmill way. But, try as he might, he couldn't seem to get away. He was pulled closer and closer to the pack of malevolent ghosts._

_"Come here dipstick!" Ember shouted, giving him an evil smirk._

_"No, no, no!" Danny tried to go ghost but found himself powerless._

_"You're mine Phantom! You'll be less than nothing once I'm done!" The Ghost Writer growled._

_"This isn't fair!" Danny complained as he was dumped onto the ground in front of them._

_"Life isn't fair punk." Walker announced as the group surrounded him._

_"Prepare for a pummelling whelp!" Said Skulker._

_"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" Shouted the podgy ghost, who received a boot to the foot from Kitty._

_"Can't we be civil about this?" Danny pleaded._

_"Nice try. You can't avoid this Danny. It's all in your head, but you can't control it." Spectra loomed over him and grabbed him by the throat.  
His fingers fumbled over her hand and he found it harder and harder to breathe. She threw him onto the floor carelessly and he was hit by several ecto-blasts and kicks. _

_Kick.  
Blast.  
Punch.  
Whip.  
Tare.  
Stretch.  
Bleed.  
Scream..._

Danny woke up with a jolt. Sweat poured down his body, still aching badly. He swept back the hair sticking to his forehead and sat up more, finding his movements slightly restricted and uncomfortable. He craned his neck to the side, rubbing his eyes to look at his clock. Danny felt surprised when he discovered that he had an hour until he had to be at school. He never woke up this early. Pushing himself up, he felt his bones clicking. He massaged his head to soothe the slowly growing headache he had and got up from his untidy mess of a bed.

Standing still, he realised how odd he felt. His clothes from the day before felt tighter. Much tighter. Exhaustedly, he stumbled over to his mirror, eyes closed and held onto the frame for support. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at himself, brushing through his own with his fingers roughly. But when he got a proper look at himself, he stopped brushing and his hands dropped slowly.

"Oh my ghosts." He said in fear with a voice that didn't sound like his own.  
That wasn't him in the reflection. It wasn't the scrawny, short boy without so much as a muscle in sight. It wasn't the boy who still looked like a twelve year old. That wasn't Danny.

He fell back onto his bed, looking at the clothes that once barely fitted him. The pants now looked like cut off ones and the t-shirt seemed to have ripped. You do not want to know what was happening in the underwear department.  
After sitting for a good ten minutes, Danny decided a shower would help calm him down. Yet, after feeling the hot water pour down him, he did not feel any better. Still, the stranger in the mirror stayed and Danny realised that this was no trick of the mind caused by exhaustion.

Knowing that he had grown, he inspected his limbs one by one, checking they were real. He looked at his chest and found he wasn't as much of a weakling as he used to be. His hair was the same length if not a bit shaggier. Out of pure interest, he looked down and his eyes widened. Well, that'd be a pain in the ass (No pun intended) to hide. Especially if he went through what he did yesterday again.

He searched through his wardrobe in hope for any clothes that might possibly fit him. He only found a pair of black pants his parents had bought him after he had hit puberty (which showed their hope for Danny to be built like Jack's side of the family) and an old, green striped, t-shirt that Vlad had left behind when his parents college days had ended. As much as he hated it, these were the only things that'd fit him.

After had slipped the two items on, he found that the shirt was a little too small and the trousers hugged his legs as tightly as his phangirls wanted to hug him. Feeling quite irritated, Danny managed to find some tube socks and brushed through his hair roughly. He looked across at his clock again; still too much time.

Realising that he'd die of boredom by waiting in his room any much longer, he figured it was time to suck it up and go downstairs. The floorboards creaked more than usual under his steps. He struggled to walk properly with his large feet that made him feel like a clown when he walked. His over-sized hands literally smothered the handrail as he held onto it. So caught up with the oddness of his movements, he didn't notice that the kitchen light was on.

So he stumbled into the kitchen, muttering a good morning and slumped into a chair. Needless to say, Jazz, who'd been munching through a bowl of cereal was freaked out. She paused in the middle of a mouthful and looked at the person in front of her with wide eyes. "MOM, DAD THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE KITCHEN!" She shouted and tripped out of her seat.

Danny jumped and looked confused, "What? Jazz?" He asked her just as Jack, the huge, orange clad ghost-hunter, skidded into the room with a look of determination and a bat in his hand.

"Get away from my daughter! What's a punk like you doing in my house!" He growled threateningly.

Danny fell out of the chair and crawled away mumbling gibberish.  
"Danny's not in his room!" Maddie cried as she entered the room and scowled at her son.

"What have you done with my little brother!" Jazz questioned him and glared, poking a still milk covered spoon. Her aqua eyes were full of judgement and hatred for the one who had discovered her still dressed in her bunny covered pyjamas.

"Jazz! It's me! Danny! Mom! Dad! See!" He smiled forcefully and gave a nervous laugh, "don't blast me please." He begged.

Jack was about to step forward before his curvy wife intervened by putting her hand on his chest to stop him. She squinted and bent down to look closer at the boy who sat on the floor's face. His chest fell and rose quickly and his unmistakable baby blue eyes looked into hers in fear. The trade mark messy black mop of hair was there, along with his slightly pale skin. The way he held himself; wary but ready and a little bit clumsy.

"Take your top off." Maddie ordered bluntly and her family looked at her as if she were going crazy. Danny shared this look. "Just do it." She said seriously. Danny, a bit bashfully, removed the t-shirt and put it near his side, "Danny?" She looked at him closer.

"How'd you know it's him?" Jazz said condescendingly.

"The Florida-shaped birthmark is a give away Jazz." Maddie said over her shoulder and pointed at the mark on the left hand side of his chest. "Plus, who else has that bright-blue eye colour in Amity Park? And the hair of course. He's my son. Of course I knew who he'd be." Maddie said with a frown and turned back to Danny.

Inside, Danny felt a bit confused. How on earth could his mother recognise him with a complete body change but not when he was Phantom? Maybe the people of Amity Park recognised colours above all else, meaning he and Phantom looked completely different to them? Whatever the reason, Danny felt annoyed by it.

At his mothers words, the father who's midnight hair was beginning to grey, bent down and looked at Danny too, "I suppose his face is there." He huffed, "Danny boy, what happened to you?" By this time, Jazz was now closer, feeling safer.

"Um.." He mumbled as he pulled his top back on. How was he supposed to answer that? He didn't know himself! He just woke up like it after a really strange and realistic dream! He couldn't tell them about that! It'd be suicide... So, he came up with the best possible thing he could.  
"Puberty?" Danny said with false confidence.

"There's my boy! I knew he'd follow his old man's side of the family!" He helped Danny up and slapped him on the back. "I think we should celebrate! With FUDGE!" Mr Fenton bounded across the room.

"We need to buy you some new clothes sweetie." Mrs Fenton informed him and hugged the boy who was a height mid-way between hers and his fathers. "JACK YOU STAY AWAY FROM THAT FUDGE!" She shouted as he stuck his hand into a box.

Jazz walked up and looked up at him with her arms folded. "This is weird Danny. You're telling me everything. Later though." She looked across the room at her parents. "You've got some explaining to do."

"Don't I get an apology?" Danny fluttered his eyelashes.

"No." She said stubbornly, "and you sound like 'Him'." She added with a certain degree of concern. "Yet you aren't 'Him'." She pondered and walked back to her cereal. Danny stood there, with a feeling of dread for what was to come. Today was going to be a long day indeed. A long day in his fathers shoes. Literally.

* * *

Sam and Tucker sat in home room, along with many other pupils in their group and chatted about the normal things. You know, ghosts and stuff. At this time, Danny would never join them before school as he was doomed to a life of only just on time's and tardiness. Dash sat a couple rows back with Kwan and chatted friendlily while Paulina and Star sent them cruel looks from the other side of the classroom as Paulina reapplied her lipgloss for the forth time that day.

The only one in the classroom who was not happy in the slightest was Valerie Grey. Apart from the usual Phantom issue, she discovered recently that Vlad Masters had cut off her funding and supply of ghost tech without a real reason. She frowned at her desk and bit her pencil hard. How on earth could she protect the town from Phantom now when she had a lack of things to protect and defend them with?

Mr Lancer sat with his feet on his desk, head stuck in a classic novel and his podgy belly struggling to stay concealed with his button up shirt. This was how it usually went. The students would chat, he would read and Mr Fenton would be late. There was obviously something going on with Danny, Mr Lancer just didn't know what it was and, being a curious man, he found this extremely irritating.

Looking up at the clock, Mr Lancer lay down his book and leant forward, ready for the bell to ring. He picked up his pen and grabbed the registration document ready to mark Daniel late. Again.  
Five.  
Four.  
Three.  
Two.  
One.  
RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!

As expected, Danny was not sat in his seat like everyone else was. Yet again, Mr Lancer felt let down by the troubled teen and on when reaching his name on the file, he pressed his pen down lightly before he dropped the object in surprise.

A large bang shook the classroom and the students as the door slammed against the wall. There stood in the doorway, now grabbing everyone's attention was a tall man with ebony hair you wanted to run your fingers through and eyes that glistened beautifully under the bright lights. Not to mention his strong yet slim build was very prominent through the clothes that appeared to be too small for him. His jaw was strong, yet resembled Danny Phantom's slightly. He huffed and puffed as he gripped the doorframe and the door handle tightly and looked at Mr Lancer with a distressed gaze.

"Sorry I'm late Sir." A baritone voice said sorrily. The tone made many of the girls in the classroom become more interested in the mystery man that stood before them. "Um, ah traffic." He stumbled. There had been no traffic though. Only his father fussing him about fudge and shoes that could actually fit him.

"Who are you may I ask?" Mr Lancer asked, not recognising him in the slightest.

"Gee, you people really are clueless," he said under his breath, "It's Danny Fenton Mr Lancer. You know, the guy who's grades are pretty much down the toilet right now? Little kid; attracts trouble, you remember?" He tried to prompt him.

Mr Lancer stare for a bit before nodding, "Okay... Danny. Sit down." He said and ticked his name to state that Danny had come to school on time. As Danny head to his seat, he felt everyone's eyes on him. He lowered his head and had a pained expression on his new face.

He slumped down into his seat, finding it a lot more uncomfortable than usual, "What the heck happened to you?" Tucker demanded and leant forward while Sam just sat there looking like something was making her feel uncomfortable as she squirmed slightly.

"I'll talk later. But, my knowledge on this matter is as plenty as the amount of mercy my parents have on ghosts." Danny sighed and let his head fall on the desk.

"Mnnnnnnnmmm." A squeal came from the direction of Sam, grabbing Tucker's and Danny's attention.

"What was that?" Danny asked in confusion and looked at the blushing girl.

"Nothing I swear." She said quickly before burying her head in a black book to try and disguise her embarrassment.

Danny and Tucker left it at that and began chatting pleasantly. Mostly about how he'd changed. Danny planned to tell Tucker about him being gay later. Like Sam said, sooner better than later. Or something like that anyway.

Across the room however, Dash was transfixed on Danny with a look of shock and bewilderment on his face. There was no way Fenton could have grown overnight that much! He was gargantuan! All the girls were looking at him and for once, Dash was a but jealous of Danny.

Kwan nudged Dash with his elbow, looking in the same direction Dash was,"Hey Dash, Fenton looks taller than y-"

"I know he does okay!" Dash snapped back with a dangerous look, "I mean, he looks like a senior dammit! How the hell did he do it!?" He asked in fury.

"Steroids?" Kwan suggested meekly.

"Come on Kwan, seriously?" He gave him a look of amusement before that faded away. "It's just freaky..." He looked back up at the laughing boy and narrowed his eyes. There was one thing he did know and that was that Danny was keeping more secrets than he was when they were friends. He was keeping bigger secrets too. Dash just hoped they wouldn't effect him too much.

Boy was he wrong.

* * *

**_R&R please! thank you for the lovely reviews by the way. Though there have been a lack of them of recent... See you next time!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**_Here's an update! Back at school now so the updates will be less frequent. :(_**

**_thank you my most excellent reviewers! Keep them coming please! it really motivates me._**

**_i don't own Danny Phantom as he is a character of someone else's creation_**.

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Chapter 11: Fate is a strange thing 

After a day of constantly banging his head on low ceilings and door frames, Danny found his peace at home. He had explained to his friends and his sister that he was not in the mood at school to chat about his restless night. Instead, he needed to think about that super freaky dream. Granted, he had a good imagination still, but even he couldn't think of something like that in his head while he was asleep. There was a reason why he was a low C in English Literature you know.

His mom had gone out and bought him his usual pants in a bigger size and a darker blue, plus some new t-shirts but a different style because they only went up to a certain size in his old ones. He now had at least fourteen white t-shirts with a black stripe across the chest and sleeves. He raised his dark eyebrows at them but Maddie smiled and shrugged.

"You look nice in black and white sweetie." She explained. Though the sentiment was sweet, Danny couldn't help but be a little scared.  
He opened his closet and found several pairs of green sneakers. Green. It was like his mom had an obsession with his alter ego's colour scheme. He just hoped no one would put two and two together and realise his secret. Not that anyone showed any signs of being as intelligent as Jazz as to find out.

Rubbing his forehead to soothe the bruise forming there, he scowled knowing that the cause of this irritating change must have been connected to the dream and the painful experience with Dash during P.E. But he didn't know why they were connected or what they meant for him. All he wanted was answers from someone wiser than he was and preferably with a lot more knowledge on Ghost related things than he did.

His mind went immediately to Clockwork. The keeper of time was he cleverest ghost he knew and of course, he knew everything to with the ghost zone, the Observants and the history of that dark place. Danny sometimes wondered just how long Clockwork had been a ghost because he sure did know a lot more than those Observants. However, Danny didn't know the way to Clockworks lair. If the ghost, being the ghost of time, wanted to see him, he could just summon him. But it didn't seem to be the case.

Someone else would have to do. Though not many other ghosts would be willing to help him. Most hated his guts beyond belief. Frostbite was too far away and Danny doubted he knew about this sort of thing. Pandora and Dora always seemed a bit reluctant to share history with outsiders as well. He sighed, knowing no one in the ghost zone could help him.

There was one though... Not that Danny really considered him an ally. Though he hoped that certain recent events would make the air less tense. Of course Vlad would know something. Unlike ghosts, he actually had a professional interest in the ghost zone and it's laws and ways. He had about twenty years of learning time to find out more about this mysterious place. He had to give him a try.

But he couldn't do it alone. He didn't trust Vlad at all, though he did trust Darren. More for moral support and a way to get there than anything, Danny wanted his friends and his sister to go with him to Wisconsin. After all, he couldn't control the spectre speeder all that well and it'd be helpful for them to help him through the ghost zone.

Feeling sure of himself, he grabbed his cellphone and typed in a number, "Sam, get Tucker. I need your help with an outing."

* * *

The four teens travelled through the abyss in a large, metal contraption commonly known as the Spectre Speeder. It was Jazz's first time in the ghost zone and she was awed by it but the other three ignored her excitement. Tucker was busy driving while Sam looked at Danny in concern. He was visibly worried, nibbling his thumb and leaning forward while concentrating his stare at the control panel. She rubbed his back soothingly and he gave her a grateful smile before returning to his previous pose.

"So, why exactly are we going to the Frootloop's Castle again?" Tucker interrupted, not lifting his gaze from the Ghost Zone ahead.

"Because I need to ask him something. I need to tell you guys something too. But I can't do that right now." Danny answered in a quiet voice.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to go there?" Jazz said in concern, looking at her now massively taller than her, brother.

"No. That's why you're coming and it's why we've got the Fenton Bazooka in the back." He pointed his thumb in the direction of the boot.

"I wondered why you insisted on bringing that." Sam smiled slightly, "Let's just get this done with before your curfew okay?"

"Yep." Danny straightened up, now being the tallest one in the vehicle. He looked into the dark expanse of the Ghost Zone, searching for something until he smiled, "there. There's his portal." He pointed to a glowing green swirl of light, very similar to his parents', stuck into a cliff face. "Steer us there Tuck." He ordered.

"Aye aye cap'n." Tucker agreed and they drove through the portal at a steady speed, as not to crash on the other side.

From the purple, green and black dimension to the pristine lab, decorated with all manner of weapons and experiments, Jazz was still not used to the sudden change in environments and gasped as it happened. The lab, though not as cluttered as the Fentons, was clearly used often and some of the objects looked a bit frightening to say the least. Danny spotted the Plasmius Maximus as well as other items of Vlad's creation. They landed on the floor silently (thanks to Tuckers skill with technology) and all started to get out when Danny stopped them.

"I'll go out first, tell him we're here and then you can come. You've got the Fenton Phones right?" He held up his own pair and they nodded, showing their own. "I'll call you with those. We don't want to come off on the wrong foot." Danny told them and stood up heading out the door.

"Don't take his bull crap Danny." Sam advised. "He needs to learn that if you want respect, you've got to earn it."

"Thanks." Danny headed out with a huff of air; his friends watching him leave from inside the vehicle.

Being careful with his steps, he almost tip toed up the stairs and snuck through the trinket-filled corridors. He scoffed at the amount of priceless junk here. Vlad probably never used any of it. It was all just empty money, sitting on his tables, collecting dust and not being used for things that actually meant something. Danny often found it strange how Vlad didn't give his money to charities more often. That's what he'd do instead of buying 500 year old jugs.

Danny heard muffled chatter coming from the direction of what he remembered to be the Sitting Room and headed to the noise quietly. He knew sneaking around Vlad's castle wasn't exactly polite, but knowing how Vlad often had a tendency to overreact, he thought it best to not surprise the man. This also meant going ghost was out of the question, as their most hostile moments were caught with him as Danny Phantom.

He peered around the dark oak frame to see Vlad sat on his red velvet couch with Darren sat next to him; his head resting on Vlad's shoulder. Danny smiled at the sight. He hoped they had started to bond. After all, Darren deserved it and so did Vlad. Vlad didn't deserve to be alone and in pain anymore. As silent as the grave, Danny travelled along the wooden floors and slumped down onto the seat next to Vlad with a sigh, his weight testing the springs of the furnishing quite dramatically.

Vlad's eyes were partially closed, nearly shut but stayed slightly open when he felt the new weight next to him. His head moved lazily to look at Danny and he smiled, "Darren... What are you doing awake already sweetheart...?" He slurred and lifted his hand to drift across Danny's cheek.

Not expecting this, Danny gave a questioning look before pushing the Frootloop's hand away, "Vlad. It's Danny." He said and looked across at the still resting Darren over the shoulder.

"Darren... you've tricked me before... you won't trick me again..." He tapped Danny's nose, "I wouldn't get your face mixed up with Daniel's..." Vlad laughed softly. "I remember your face always." And with that, Vlad flopped face first onto Danny's lap, leaving the raven haired lad rather flustered and Darren lying onto of Vlad.

"Seriously! I don't even look like him!" Danny complained, getting slightly annoyed and he pushed Vlad up off his legs and back into a sitting position. Vlad woke up more to find Darren asleep on his lap and a boy he barely recognised sitting beside him with his hands on his hips.

"Little... Badger?" Vlad cocked his head to the side, "What on Earth happened to you?!" He said more clearly and louder, making Darren stir on his lap uncomfortably.

"I'd like to know that for myself actually." He admitted, "and for the record, Darren and I look nothing alike." Danny said stubbornly and folded his arms.

Vlad looked down at Darren and back up at Danny, "Actually, minus the massive bulk, violet eyes and ponytail, you look extremely similar. But not too similar." He admitted, earning a scowl from Danny, "Anyway, why the hell are you in my castle uninvited at seven o'clock at night?" He gave him a disapproving look at Danny's intrusion.

"Because I need to know if you can help me." Danny said quietly.

"You, want me to help you? That's a first Daniel. Does this mean you trust me?" Vlad looked hopeful but turned saddened when Danny laughed.

"Me? Trust you? Of course not!" He chuckled at the thought.

"Then give me a reason why I should help you. Darren's already forced me to help stop ghosts attacking Amity Park and told me to fire Valerie from working for me. I don't even talk to Skulker anymore." Danny was about to ask why but Vlad said, "Darren doesn't like Skulker."

"Since when does Darren control you?" Danny looked amused and gazed down at the sleeping human.

"Since you dumped him on me and he's learnt how to manipulate me." Vlad grumbled.

"It's not my fault you seem to do anything I want when I wrestle with you. You give in after about two minutes." Darren mumbled and rolled over, his eyes opening and a smirk crawling onto his face.

"That's... Because its awkward..." Vlad looked away from the man on his lap, hiding a plainly visible blush.

"I like wrestling. Especially with you. You get all flustered," Darren laughed and rested his cheek against Vlad's stomach.

"That's because you insist on touching me in places I do not wish to be touched in!" Vlad shot a red faced glare of embarrassment at his lap-buddy.

"Are you sure you don't want to be touched in those places?" He sat up and moved closer to the perplexed billionaire.

"Quite sure." Vlad said through grit teeth.

"Anyway, what can we do for you Danny? Man troubles perhaps?" Darren wiggled his eyebrows with a grin.

"You could say that. Can my friends come in? They're a bit anxious over me wanting to talk to Vlad and I need to tell them something too." Danny asked, only just getting over the fact that his old cheese-head had been wrestling with a twenty four year old.

"Sure." Darren said before Vlad could protest, "tell them to come in. This matter is obviously troubling you some."

"You have no idea." He mumbled before taking a Fenton Phone in his hand, "Sam, Tuck, Jazz? It's safe to come in. We're in the Sitting Room on the same floor as you come out on after the lab. Take a left and you'll be there." Danny instructed and he heard an 'okay' from Sam in agreement.

"You do look different actually. Who made you grow up so quickly?" Darren asked, leaning his elbows down onto Vlad's thighs and supporting his head while he lay down again. Vlad hissed in pain.

"Nobody did. At least I don't think so. It happened overnight and I had this really weird dream that night too." Danny remembered the odd happenings of that night which brought a flinch to his face.

"What dream?" Jazz asked from behind them with Tucker and Sam standing either side of her.

"Well, I was in the school alone. No one was there. So I went looking for people." His friends and sister came in cautiously, "I ended up in the locker rooms and there was this weird note from the Observants and it said something about me being bonded-"

"With another person? This shall be documented as the first official halfa and human bonding in ghostly and human history. Did it say that?" Darren straightened up, his playful smirk dropping into a serious stare.

"Y-yes. But how did you know that?!" Everyone's eyes rested on Darren.

"Because Dark Dan had that dream. But it was the first ghost and human bonding. Not halfa." Darren looked at Vlad sheepishly. "Who is yours!?" His eyes met with Danny's.

"..." His mouth opened and he looked at his lap, "... Dash." His hand tightened over his other one and he closed his eyes.

"You're gay? But you said you weren't." Tucker said curiously.

"I never said I wasn't I just didn't say I was." Danny corrected him and he looked up to see Jazz studying his face, Vlad looking mildly surprised and Tucker wide eyed. Darren and Sam smiled slightly. "So, who was Dan's in his dream?"

"It... Was strange. He was flying without a point, not really noticing where he was going and all of a sudden he crashed into a tree and fell down to the ground. Being small it was surprising that he knocked someone down too. Vlad, was there. Dan was unconscious on top of him. Dan felt pain and woke up to see Vlad. He almost attacked him. But he ached too much to try and flew away. The dream happened that night in the remains of the Nasty Burger and Vlad was there. But then he was hurt by many many independent ghost hunters, the GIW and his... Dead parents. He woke up after that and looked like the Dan we all knew recently." Darren explained and sighed. "I never really understood it, but he wanted to find Vlad so much. He was always thinking about getting him but then he also thought about... Much more... Heated things. Disgusting things to do to him against his will. He liked the thought of seeing Vlad battered after he was done with him. But he'd never be done." Darren shivered. "The other though, the other me wanted to be with Vlad again because he felt so bad about what he'd done after all the help Vlad gave him." He felt Vlad's eyes on his ponytailed hair, "I don't want to hurt Vlad. I want him to... Like me. I want you to be with me as I do you. Don't freak out but Dan kinda bonded with you and now I'm sort of bonded with you too." His violet eyes looked scared as he found the strength to look back at Vlad.

The billionaire gazed with no sneer, no hatred, no fear but a straight face. You could see the focus in his eyes as he looked into Darren's. The cogs in his brain looked like they were ticking furiously. Darren couldn't pull his gaze away, the intensity of the look too much. He was scared that if he removed his eyes, the subject would be dropped after he poured his heart out. What would be left of him then? He felt his face burn up but he couldn't do anything about it. His stomach sank heavily as he still received no response from Vlad.

The strong jawed man in front of him showed no signs of moving. Those rich oceanic blue eyes shadowed by dark eyebrows were darkened by the contrast of his perfectly pale skin with the fan of surprisingly thick black lashes that framed them. The long, thin, nose stayed still on his face and did not twitch even a small bit. After sleeping for a short amount of time, his slicked back hair had flopped forward slightly over his eyes, revealing a bit of those silver bangs. Of course Vlad was irresistible to Darren. Those stupid Observants had made sure of that. Sometimes he hated how much he wanted to hold Vlad in his arms and tell him that he was his but he knew that the way he felt wasn't going to change.

Caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Vlad take his hands in his own soft ones and run his thumbs over Darren's knuckles. His eyes softened and he lifted one hand up to hold his chin gently. Vlad's eyes flickered between each one of Darren's before he leaned in and gave a careful, short sweet kiss on the other's lips. Darren felt suddenly extremely happy and pressed in harder but found that Vlad had pulled away as soon as he did.

"I have no doubt that you are a very caring one and I'm extremely touched that you have cared for me more than anyone else has done in my entire life. Even more so knowing that somehow you are now soul bonded with me. But I barely know you Darren and though I know that I do like you a lot more than most people, I need more time before anything happens. I'm giving you a chance okay?" Vlad lowered his head and flinched when Darren squealed.

"YES YES YES OH MY CHEESE-BALLS!" He jumped up and down on the sofa but stopped when he spotted the teenagers looking shocked... And Danny looking a bit miffed.

"Yay. We've resolved that. Now please can someone tell me what's happened to me?" He folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Long story short, you and Dash are now destined to be together but you have to initiate it or he'll go on while you spend the rest of your miserable existence yearning after what could've been." Vlad answered bluntly.

"That seems lovely." Sam added sarcastically.

"It happens naturally, but the Observants are extremely formal about it." Vlad grumbled, "the Observants stick their noses, if they have any, into everyone's business. Even the Ghost of Time's I hear."

"Clockwork? He's spoken of them before. He says they're meddling." Darren smirked.

"You've met him? Wow, you're lucky..." Vlad looked at Darren in awe.

"He's a bit annoying sometimes. Especially when he tried to kill Danny on behalf of the Observants." Tucker remembered clearly.

"Anyway! We know about Danny and Dash now, but what about the rapid growth overnight?" Jazz asked, steering the conversation back on track.

"That'd be some sort of ghost puberty. It only happens once you've found 'the one'. It's done to help attract your mate." Vlad explained plainly which made Danny frown.

"But Dash looked shocked when he saw me." He said sadly and held his hands together.

"He has to adjust. You'll get used to it. If you're lucky, you won't have to wait too long until you can be together!" Darren said extremely cheerfully and smiled, clapping his hands childishly.

"I'm happy for you dude, but I wish you'd told me earlier. I would have understood you know." Tucker placed his hand on Danny's shoulder and Danny looked up at his friends.

"He may be stupid, but he's not disloyal." Sam teased and Tucker pushed her playfully.

"Well I'm glad you understand." The three teens beamed at him. "But I think it's about time we leave don't you?" He stood up and brushed his lap off.

"If you want to get home on time I believe it would be the best." Jazz said smartly.

"Goodbye Little Badger!" Vlad said a little more cheerfully as the four began to walk out the room.

"Danny!" Darren jumped up and grabbed his arm. "Congratulations." He whispered in Danny's ear and smiled, running back to Vlad with a skip in his step. Danny smiled back with a smirk, looking at Vlad and Darren one more time before his hand was taken by Sam's and he was pulled away out of the room and back to the Fenton Speeder feeling a little more enlightened than before.

Darren slumped down onto the springy couch once more, admiring Vlad who was looking in the direction the teenagers had left. He tucked a strand of soft, long raven hair behind his ear and retied his ponytail nervously. "I forgot to tell him something." He mumbled as Vlad turned to him once more.

"What was that then?" Vlad's head cocked to the side slightly as he questioned his newly acquired companion.

"The need for your mate gets worse with time." He looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs.

Vlad looked at him with interest before lifting Darren's chin, "Then we'll need to make sure you can get your mate soon, hm?" His lips tugged upwards at the corners as a warm expression came onto his face.

"I'd like that." Darren felt a little more encouraged, more hope filling his eyes. "But you have to take that camera out of his room."

"Oh come on!"

"It's an invasion of his privacy."

"I'm keeping an eye on him!"

"Fine. The camera can stay. But only for Danny's safety." Darren gave in and heard a quiet "yes!" From Vlad.

"Oh and Darren?" The silver haired halfa began.  
"Yes?"

"Who's Dash?" He said with pure interest and a confused look.

"Danny's bully and quarterback at Casper High. He's tall, blonde and blue eyed. They've had a rivalry for years." Darren shrugged but Vlad tensed.

"HE'S BONDED WITH THAT OAF!?"

Darren sighed and laughed at the look of horror that Vlad now wore. His parents weren't the ones to worry about with this; the lonely, half ghost Packers fanatic was.

* * *

_**How was it? Do you know that Butch Hartman has been tweeting some very interesting things involving Danny Phantom recently... XD r&r please!**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**YAY AN UPDATE! As for what Butch tweeted, he has been very unfair of late, tweeting things about Danny Phantom and such. *angst***_

**_i_** _**do so love your reviews guys. They are most fantabulous. ;) **_

_**I DONT OWN WHAT BUTCH OR NICK OWN DUH. Just this new character. ;D**_

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Chapter 12: Stirrings in the Ghost Zone

"I'm sick and tired of being in this godforsaken ruin of a desert! I don't deserve this!" A ear piercing screech rang through the dark, crumbling stone walls of one of the only buildings residing in the Barren Lands.  
An entire hall of ghosts turned to the noise with a bit of annoyance and a wary look. They didn't look like normal ghosts. Their ectoplasmic glow was dim and definitely not as clear as the others'. The glow bled out in a messy blur, most colours being black or red in contrast to the usual green or white. Their skin was mostly grey in colour, or other similar dull tones, with scars and open wounds taking a common place.

The ruffians, tyrants and unmentionables gathered here to take shelter from the oncoming sandstorms that took place outside. The tall, cylindrical building, mostly made of dark stone had stood out in the Barren Lands for as long as even the oldest ghosts could remember. The only windows were arrows slits dotting the stonework and a heavy door made out of an unknown element separated the outside from the inside. Many knew it as the Obsidian Tower, one of the only buildings left standing after a long and ectoplasm-spilling war.  
The self-proclaimed leader of the building sat in a throne made of naturally formed obsidian, gripping down onto the surface with talon-like claws. Pure white eyes, framed thickly, burned out from underneath a dark hood attached to a long, flowing cape that spilled over the rocks beneath them. On a perfectly translucent strong-jawed face, there was a straight, long nose, a perfectly equal pair of black lips and several black scars scratched across her cheekbones and eyes.

"We've been like this for more than three hundred years, Mistress. I don't think he's coming to get us anytime soon." A small, squat ghoul rested his hand on her clawed one.

She shot him a cruel glare and stood up from her pedestal, slapping his hand away hard. Her cloak fell off her spiny, sharp figure and tumbled to the throne. She was dressed in a long, black dress with suggestions that it was of medieval design. The sleeves covered her arms in a web-like fashion and the hem of the skirt was ripped and torn in long strips. A curtain of flawless midnight hair fell over her face and down to her waist.

The woman in black her black tipped toes stepped down the harsh steps and she took her place in the centre of the dim room. A blur of black ash fell behind her and off her being. Her fingers, which were pointed and blackening as if she had a bad case of frostbite, twitched near her sides as she looked down the rejected poltergeists.

"My husband gave his word that once he was free of the Observants entrapment, he would come and gather his forces in this land which was once his to assure his right once more." She began with an icy cold accent which no one could quite place, "So we have waited for his return. And we will wait even more. After all, you have all been banished have you not? Don't you want to be allowed to roam freely around the ghost zone once more?" The looming spirit asked and was answered by mumbled nothing's.

"We grow tried of waiting. Maybe we can make our own civilisation here? We don't have much... But we might be able to do it. Who needs the Freelands anyway?!" A red-skinned ghost announced from the crowd and was met with a rousing cheer of agreement.

"The Freelands were once ours." The female hissed in his direction.

"The Freelands were once your husband's. But that time is over. You're stuck in the past Diabolia. Pariah is not coming out of that Sarcophagus again." The red one retorted before finding the Dark Woman's lengthened claws stuck in his gut.

"If he won't come back, it's my time to take action." She whispered into the slowly fading Ghost's ear. "And my first action, is to send you into the beyond my dear." The red one looked down to see several holes in his gut, not bleeding ectoplasm, but producing a black thread work of vein-like lines from the wounds.

"I-I..." He stumbled and fell to his knees as she pulled away.

"Let this be a warning to you. If any of you dare oppose what I will do, I will send you into the darkness. Is that clear?" She looked around at the straight faced ghosts.

"Yes." They said collectively and with that, the Lady Diabolia Dark vanished in a cloud of ash and cloud, leaving the group to stare down at a pile of black goop that was once one of their only sane leaders. They knew what was coming. They had seen it before. The age of Dark was coming and not one part of the Ghost Zone would remain untouched.

* * *

"Venkman Avenue... Venkman Avenue..." A figure dressed in a pair of baggy trousers and a green hoody that covered his face mumbled to himself, looking at the signposts to different roads as he walked down the pavement.  
Of course, Danny Phantom wasn't all that good at laying low. That's what the get up was for. Lord only knows how his phan-girls would react if they saw him now. As expected, the change to his human body also happened to his Ghost body. Though his green eyes, white hair and outfit stayed the same, his build and his general appearance had altered in the same way that his Human half's had.

"Venkman Avenue... Venkman Avenue!" He found the sign and smiled as his pace quickened. "Number thirteen... Number thirteen..." Danny's search did not last long as he found the house he was looking for in no time. There was no doubt that the house was bigger than his own and for that Danny was quite jealous but then again, they probably didn't have a Ghost Portal in their basement.

Looking around cautiously, he headed into the small alley beside the house and flew up to look into the windows. No one was on the bottom floor from his view from the long window showing the kitchen. He drifted up to the second floor, seeing a window with red curtains. Warily, he peeked just over the window sill to see just the person he was looking for.

Dash was crouched over his table, which face away from the window so he had his back to Danny. He was dressed in a vest-shirt and a pair of knee length, white shorts that Danny presumed to be his pyjamas. From what Phantom could see, he held a pencil in his mouth as he looked through his books and scribbled notes down. His eyes hovered around to see Dash's walls covered with Casper High memorabilia, spoils of Football wins and a sneaky collection of romance videos hidden away under his bed. Danny smirked knowingly as he recalled the collection of teddy bears in Dash's cupboard. He just hoped that he would be the one Dash'd cuddle at some point or another, though he felt odd when he thought about it.

He saw Dash stretch and yawn before setting his pencil down and reading through yet another book. With a gulp, Danny drifted through the wall and into the jock's bedroom, staying invisible for a moment before he returned to his visible state and dropped onto the floor with a thud.

Dash dropped his book and gasped, swirling around to face the intruder. His chest rose and fell harshly as he looked the man up and down, "w-who are you?" He tried to sound brave.

Danny looked puzzled for a moment before realising that he still had his hood up. He laughed and took it down, unzipping the piece of clothing and slipping it off him. He looked up at Dash as he did so, seeing the look of confusion on his face. Danny couldn't help it. The look was so cute when Dash's eyebrows scrunched together and he jutted out his bottom lip slightly.

"Danny? You look... Different." He wondered as the ghost boy began to remove the baggy trousers. Dash found him blushing slightly at the action.

"Ghost puberty. What can you do about it really?" Danny shrugged smoothly.

"Didn't even know that was a thing..." Dash said awkwardly. "Anyway, why are you here?" He relaxed his posture as his eyes followed the other boy to his bed.

"Just wanted to see you. How are you? How have you been? Anything interesting happen since I saw you last?" Though the questions could've been casual, there was too much excitement in his tone and appearance for it to be normal.

"Well, I'm a bit confused... The other day the Fenton kid was bigger than the day before and it was... Strange to see him like that." Dash looked thoughtful.

"How was it strange?" He tried to hide a smirk.

"I don't know! I'm just so used to him being so puny." Dash grumbled and stood from his seat, before slumping down onto the bed, next to Danny. "Like you used to be." Dash said sneakily and Danny rolled his eyes. "Speaking of you, I want to know more about you. You already know way too much about me. It's a bit frustrating."

Danny clamped his jaw shut as to stop him from making a rather unmanly squeal. Dash wanted to know him! He wanted to know him! The very thought made Danny's heart race.

"Well... I have five friends. Human ones I mean. The ghosts don't like me all that much." He laughed.

"who are they?" Dash asked in curiosity.

"You, of course. A couple of people attending Casper High. Some are in your year. One is not. I can't say anymore than that yet." Danny refused to speak any further about it.

"Please! Pretty please?" Dash pleaded and pulled off the puppy dog eyes perfectly. Why was he so... Argh!?

"Mmmnnn... Okay then. Promise not to tell anyone. Not even those who I mention." He ordered harshly and held out his hand.

"I swear on my life." Danny internally flinched. He shouldn't swear on that. That would hurt him too.

"Okay... Well, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton, you and... Danny Fenton. But he's more of a compulsory acquaintance. We don't speak much." Danny admitted and he saw Dash's jaw tense. He felt himself lower his head in shame.

"You're friends with those losers? Is that why you don't think we could've been friends when you were alive?" Danny sent a glare in his direction as Dash spoke.

"They aren't losers. They help me. Especially when I'm injured." Danny looked away, slightly disappointed by Dash.

"What... Kind of injuries do you get? Are they serious?" Dash rested his hand on top of Danny's, "Because I'm sure the hospital would be more than happy as to treat you. I'd pay of course. I can help too." He said sincerely, looking deep in the vortex of green that were the ghost boys eyes.

"You want to help me?" His eyes widened as Dash nodded enthusiastically. Danny shut his mouth and looked up at the blond with sadness. "No... I couldn't let you help me."

"Why on earth not?" His hands tightened on Danny's.

"Because I couldn't let you get hurt. And even if you didn't get hurt, I wouldn't want you to see some of the stuff that happens to me." His fingers shook slightly as he held Dash's hands.

"So you can let those lot help you but you can't let me?" Dash's brow furrowed and a look of hurt spread across his features, making Danny flinch.

"No... No it's not like that. I... I just want you safe. You are more important." Danny held back as much as possible when Dash cocked an eyebrow.

"Since when was one human life of more worth than another one? You've obviously known these people longer than you have known me. So logic dictates you would care for them more. Not the other way around." His oceanic eyes tried to invade Danny's.

"Since... Since... Since you aren't pestering me about ghosts all the time! They're all like 'let's go get those ghosts!' day and night. You just talk. It's great like that. It makes me happy okay?" He said passionately before sighing, "it's hard to be happy when you're dead and hated by both humans and ghosts." He slumped his jumpsuit clad shoulders.

Dash frowned and looked at him in thought. He then grabbed his face and made Danny look at him. With a serious expression he told him, "I don't hate you." Not really acknowledging the fact that they were still joint hand in hand.  
Danny slipped his hands away and before he could do anything else, he launched himself at Dash, hugging the crap out of him with his arms under Dash's and his legs wrapped around his mid-section tightly. Danny smiled from ear to ear with a grin that one could associate with a loving kitten. Immediately his heart started racing as fast as possible and there was a strange feeling in his gut that only made Danny want to hug Dash closer. He had his cheek on Dash's as he felt the soft skin of his destiny rub against his own wind-rubbed one.

The blond jock froze when the cool ghoul smothered him. He wasn't all that used to hugging boys yet. Especially heroic, dead, sort of attractive ones. But the ghost's lanky figure was comfortable around his own well built one. Especially with the heat of the heating up to its highest for some unknown reason. He melted into the hug, closing his arms around the boy who seemed quite content just to grab hold of him like a koala to a tree.

Yet Dash seized up when he felt a cold nose trail up his neck up to his ear. "Uh... No problem Danny." He said to try and wake the ghost out of his trance-like state.

Danny's eyes snapped open as he looked at the neck in front of him. He slowly crawled away from Dash, though the odd sensation in his lower regions yearned for the closeness. "Ha... I'm sorry." He apologised and flashed a nervous smile which shocked Dash.

"Your teeth are a little pointy. Your canines are. Not like those ghost fangs. But sharp-looking." He informed the ghost boy who groaned unhappily.

"For the love of..." He lifted himself up with a slouch and peered in Dash's mirror, opening his mouth wide and taking a peek at his canines which had lengthened only a bit, not really being noticeable but showing a certain sharpness that no one would like to be on the other end of. "Well, what a pleasant surprise that is." He rolled his eyes. "Probably for marking my mate or something." He growled at himself.

"Your... Mate?" Dash asked awkwardly and Danny turned to face him sheepishly with his mouth hanging.

"Uh... The person I've bonded with. The one person for me, not taking into account gender or whether they're a ghost or not. It's unbearable that's for sure." Danny whispered loud enough for Dash to hear.

"So who's the lucky lady?" Dash smirked and patted the seat next to him.

"Uh..." Lady? Oh god. He couldn't bring himself to lie. "They're... Not a lady." He blushed furiously and looked down at the floor hard. He saw Dash's eyes widen from the corner of his eye. He sat down next to Dash, keeping his hands in his lap and his eyes to himself.

"Okay then. Who's the lucky man?" Dash asked flexibly, making Danny feel relieved that Dash didn't reject him because of his sexual orientation. In truth, Dash was more than surprised that the hero was gay. But, he really didn't mind to be honest.

"I don't want to tell you yet. I trust you of course! But... But... He's human and I can't tell anyone. Not even him. Not even you." He sad remorsefully, hanging his head in shame.

Dash looked at him studiously for a moment with eyes drawn to slits and then sighed. A deep long sigh was emitted, grabbing the attention of the boy next to him. The jock looked fed up and tired. His shoulders were low and sloped and his bottom lip was pushed out slightly while his eyes seemed darker than usual. He yawned widely, letting Danny have full view of all his straight, pearly teeth sat in his mouth. This in contrast to the usual bubbly, ready for anything guy was a strange sight for Danny. A strange sight indeed.

"It's really hot in here." Dash stated and pulled on his collar, wiping the moist area on his forehead.

"What?" Danny asked in surprise, a flush crossing his face as he took Dash's words the wrong way.

"My mom always puts the heating up really high. She thinks I'm gonna catch a cold or something. But all it does is make it hard for me to sleep." He admitted with a sigh and leant forward, his head in his hands in a relaxed way.

It was stupid, what came into Danny's head just then. Idiotic. But he couldn't help it. Dash'd always tried to hide his weaknesses and now he was having trouble with something, all he wanted to do was help him out. So, by using his ice powers, he dropped his temperature lower than it was already to a manageable one. He would've omitted the coolness, but at the time he had not figured out how to do this in a controllable way where it wasn't caused by his anger. He didn't want to get angry around Dash anyway.

"I can help you cool down...?" Danny offered quietly, leaning forward slightly into Dash's direction.

"How?" Dash looked up at the white haired boy expectantly.

"I can drop my core temperature. My body temperature can lower to a suitable temperature for you." He replied sheepishly.

"You want me to 'snuggle' with you? Seriously?" He raised an eyebrow with a smirk that made Danny's stomach churn and tense.

"It's either that or you sweat yourself to death." Danny retorted coolly, though a tad forcefully.

Dash narrowed his eyes and straightened up. "Maybe." He yawned. "It'd be good for me. Especially as its so freaking warm and I have a test tomorrow." He faced Danny by shifting on the bed with his arms floppy near his sides.

"O-okay." Danny stumbled and found his hands quivering slightly. He shuffled over closer to Dash, with neon eyes trying to avoid contact with the other's. He wrapped his arms around Dash with an apologetic look; his cheek touching Dash's one as they have each other a look of questioning.

"That's nice." Dash hummed and pushed himself into Danny more as his eyes began to grow heavy. Before Danny could say anything else, Dash had fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around Danny's waist; his weight pushing against the tall ghost kid.

Danny moved so that he could get Dash to lie down on the bed properly while his hands remained on him. Dash refused to let go as they shifted, making Danny have to lift up the well built jock to put him in a comfortable position.  
Danny let go of the boy and sat down at the edge of his bed, his hand on Dash's cheek as he looked down at him. He sighed and drifted his thumb across his cheekbone. As much as he would like to stay, he knew it would be risky. He stood up, raking a hand through his hair before turning away and picking up his discarded disguise.

Upon hearing a moan, Danny turned back to see Dash restless and his hands opening and closing as if grabbing for something that wasn't there. His eyes were opening again as the sweat covered him thickly, giving him a greasy shine that was never comfortable when you slept. Phantom looked down at the clothes in his hands and back to the uncomfortable guy and frowned, his eyes repeating the motion several times.

"Dammit Dash." He growled and sat down on the bed again, dumping the clothes onto the floor and lying down next to him. He wrapped his arms around the jock once more and received a surprisingly quick reaction. As soon as Danny touched him, he linked his arms around Danny's back and pulled him flush against his chest with his head on his shoulder and his legs bunched up near him. Dash mumbled a content sound and his eyes shut again.

It didn't look like Danny was leaving anytime tonight. Not that he really minded at all. Not one bit. He breathed in, the smell of sweat, mint and his usual Dash smell entering his nostrils. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay with Dash and never leave. He wanted to have the closeness, the touch, the happiness. And he fell asleep with those thoughts running through his head.

* * *

_**Argh! Done. I will try and update soon. R&R please. :D**_


	13. Chapter 13

**_Here it is. Sorry I took so long for a lack of content *angst* _**

**_i don't own Danny phantom but I do own those beautiful reviews I got from you guys ;)_**

* * *

Chapter 13- Split decisions

Dash woke up slowly that Friday morning. He felt sluggish and floppy, knowing that it'd take more than a few seconds to be fully awake. But that's how it usually was for him. The only difference about this morning to him was that he actually had good nights sleep. No tossing and turning, evident by the lack of bed stuffs wrapped around his legs. No extortionate amounts of perspiring, clear by how dry he was. But he definitely didn't feel as cold as he did last night. He moaned and began to open his deep blue eyes.

Hearing this noise, Danny awoke immediately, realising his current situation. He was lead on top of Dash AGAIN and boy did he know it. He just hoped Dash didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. His teeth clamped down on his lip as he struggled to hold in a strange noise. And then he realised something. He was in Fenton form.

'CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP.' Went through Danny's head as he spotted Dash's eyes beginning to open. "I'm going ghost." He mouthed and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to transform as quietly as possible. As two lights washed over him, he made himself intangible and slumped away from Dash, onto the wooden floor beneath them and pretended to be asleep.

Dash was suddenly wide awake from the feeling of a weight being lifted off him. He rubbed his eyes and lifted himself up, lying his elbows on the mattress for support. He yawned widely and glanced around the room with heavy eyelids, not really taking in his surroundings. His eyes trailed left, towards the stack of sports trophies and photos of him and his friends. Then, the eyes trailed to the right to see his window, a small collection of Danny Phantom memorabilia and his laptop. Dash stretched his arms up over his head with a groan and swung his legs around to sit upright on the bed with his legs hanging over the side. And then he jumped to stand up.

"FUDGING HELL!" A shout from where his feet had landed caught Dash's attention and with shock he scrambled back onto his bed away from the upset creature. He looked over the edge of the covers shyly to see Danny Phantom comforting his stomach with his cheeks puffed out and tears in his eyes. His cheeks were flushed an angry crimson colour and he kept making 'ah' sounds constantly.

"Oh crap! Sorry! I'm so sorry! Why were you lying there you idiot!?" Dash said impatiently although mostly in anger.

"You were still too warm so I stayed the night and I was sleeping on the floor and you winded me jerkbag!" Danny replied in a broken voice as he repeated a squeal noise.

"I didn't know that did I? I thought you'd go at some point." Dash said a slight quieter and held out his hand for Danny to take.

"Yeah well, I stayed and now I'm gonna hobble around with my arms wrapped around my stomach like I'm constipated." He took the blond's hand and was jerked forward onto the bed next to him, sitting with his legs squeezed tightly together and his arms in his lap, covering up what remained of the awkwardness.

"The ghosts are going to laugh at you for that." Dash said pointedly and smirked.

"They laugh at me anyway." Danny chuckled.

"At least you don't have to go to high school hey?" And with that, Danny's high spirits deflated. He was going to school. In fact, he hasn't told his parents where he was last night and he was short on time as it was without a rant as well as that.

"But you do. So I suppose I'll have to leave now." His eyes trailed up Dash's body to his face smoothly with a reluctant expression gracing his features.

"Are you sure? Because you could come to school with me and we can talk during break. It must be lonely during the daytime." Dash said with concern and got up to look through his closet.

"Nah, I'm fine. I've just gotta do my rounds that's all. Ghosts beware." Danny joked unsurely and gave a weak chuckle as well. "I'll see you... Later then?"

"This weekend I can't." Dash said with a sad look. "We're visiting my cousins in Wisconsin on Saturday and coming back on Sunday. I wish I could stay but we haven't seen them in so long." Dash sighed and picked out a black t-shirt to wear.

"Oh... That's okay then. I'll see you after you come out of school on Monday then. Is that okay with you?" Danny asked and folded his arms across his chest.

"That's great. It's just a shame we can't meet up earlier." Dash shrugged and took the shirt he wore off and threw it to the side of him, fumbling with the t-shirt he had acquired clumsily. The ghost boy's eyes drifted to his abs unwillingly.

"A shame... Yeah." He mumbled dreamily before jumping and clapping his hands together. "I'll see you then!" He coughed, "don't get into trouble." He backed up against the wall and smiled.

"Me? Get into trouble? Never." Dash laughed and waved as the ghost boy sank through the wall with a little smirk on his face and waved in return.  
Dash's eyes stayed fixed on the wall for a bit before he shook his head and gave a low chuckle, pulling on the top fully and stretching as he did so. He looked down at his feet and saw the same hoody and pants that Phantom wore before on the ground in a pile. He crouched down and picked up the clothing; rubbing his forefinger and thumb over the soft material and a happy expression came across his face.

"Clueless." He scoffed and rested the items on his desk neatly, his eyes hovering over them a moment before he lifted his gaze away with a shake of his head. Getting to know Phantom was sure proving to be hard work.

* * *

"WHERE ON EARTH WERE YOU LAST NIGHT YOUNG MAN!?" A screech of his mother's accord shook the FentonWorks building to its foundations and made Jazz sigh from up in the sanctuary of her bedroom.

Needless to say, Danny's parents weren't best pleased when Danny turned up on the doorstep after not coming back home that night. Of course, he could've just snuck in, but the ghost shields were put up at night and in the early morning so, he tried to get in as a human, but was caught due to his clumsiness.

The smashed vase was another thing his mom wasn't so happy about as well.  
"Well, I uh..." No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a feasible answer. He hated lying to his parents. But no matter what, he'd always be back before morning. This was the first time he was out all night and that just didn't sit well with Maddie and Jack.

"Danny... Tell us now son." The orange clad ghost hunter of a dad crossed his arms over his wide chest and gave a rare frown.

"I... I was at Tucker's okay? I'm sorry. We were studying and it got late and we were tired and we just fell asleep on our books. It won't happen again mom, dad." Danny lied quickly and hoped that Tucker would support his accusation.

"Right." Maddie narrowed her eyes, "you're grounded, tonight and tomorrow. No seeing friends apart from school. I don't expect this to happen again Danny. It's... Disappointing." She let the sadness enter her face finally making her sons heart pang with guilt. "I don't know what's up with you Danny... We love you, but it hurts us when you don't tell us these things. When you lie to us." She lowered her eyes and Danny shifted uncomfortably. "Go upstairs. You're going to be late for school." She shook her head and waved him off, walking into the kitchen without another word.

"Danny, what's going on? Please tell us because I can't see your mom like this. We worry." The usually cheerful Jack rested his hand on Danny's shoulder, "don't you trust us?" He mumbled mostly to himself and left Danny at the bottom of the stairs.

For once, Danny felt like punching himself. This whole Dash ordeal was messing up both his human life and his Ghost life. Finally he just couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to have Dash, but he also wanted to have his family and friends. He growled at himself in annoyance and stomped upstairs, having a speedy shower and getting changed whilst maintaining the angst.

After he was finished getting dressed he stomped out of his room mumbling angry mutters under his breath with his rucksack strung over his shoulder. His over-sized hand squeezed the shoulder-strap tightly and made his knuckles red. "So... Where were you actually last night hm?" Danny jumped when he found Jazz directly behind him.

She had her hands folded behind her back and cocked an eyebrow with a mischievous grin on her face. The startled demeanour faded once his mind flicked back to Dash and last night and a huge shade of rouge covered his cheeks and he bit his lip hard.

"N-none of your business Jazz." He managed to mutter out and just managed to catch his bag as it fell from his grip clumsily.

"You don't need to tell me." She closed her eyes and held her hands up level with her shoulders, "I have a pretty good idea." And with that, Danny proceeded to run away as fast as he could.

* * *

"Argh it's so freaking annoying!" Danny moaned and slammed his locker shut, letting out the typical teen emotions he was producing that morning. He banged his head against the metal door, once, twice, three times before Sam grabbed him. "I just want to... Argh, get Dash, push him into a cupboard with me and make out for a good couple of hours, you know what I mean?"

"Um... Not really." Tucker looked slightly scared at the change in his friend, "maybe you should talk to someone else about it. I mean, Sam and I are straight. Unless..." He narrowed his eyes at the Goth Girl who rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a lesbian Tucker. I liked Danny for a good couple years remember? Plus, keeping that in mind, the only girl I would get with if I were a lesbian would be Danielle most probably, seeing as I hate pretty much everyone else. Except Jazz. But she's a bit too preppy for my liking." She scrunched up her nose as if she were surrounded by ten thousand sloppy joes and steaks.

Danny ignored their little conversation and continued, "But I can't make out with him because he doesn't see me that way and if my parents caught Phantom OR Fenton canoodling with a human boy there'd be big trouble. And I don't want to argue with them again." He whined as he said the last sentence.

"Danny, we know how much you just really want to fulfil your 'hearts desires' but you've got to be patient with it." Tucker tried to convince his best friend.

"But that's not the thing I'm really cheesed off about!" He complained, "If I want to be with Dash, it gets me in trouble with my family and if I spend time with my family I will be further and further away from getting anywhere with Dash." He said a little too loudly.

"So it is true." A familiar voice came from behind the trio and Danny's form froze, "why are you hiding this Fenton?" They turned to see Kwan with his arms crossed over his chest with a judging expression.

"Hiding what? I don't know what you're talking about." Danny tried to back himself up desperately.

"You're not very good at hiding the fact that you like Dash. It's really obvious so don't deny it. You know it's true. You keep looking at him funny and you've been really jumpy recently. I notice things Danny and I know when someone likes someone else." Kwan lectured the now equally as tall raven haired boy in front of him.

"B-but..." Danny began but Kwan shot him a look that silenced him.  
"You might have a chance with him..." Kwan started, "but he's got his eyes on another guy at the moment. Much like every girl in Amity park does. He denies it, but he blushes about it. I think it's a crush. But you still have a chance Fenton. If you're nice enough to him." He tilted his head to the left slightly, "not that you aren't nice."

"Thanks for that... I guess." Danny laughed oddly and blushed.

Kwan rested his hand on his shoulder, "You'd better get him quick or the competition will catch up with ya." He smirked and walked off down the corridor with eyes of many students on his back.

"Uh... Well that was different." Tucker commented awkwardly and Danny sent him a silencing glare.

"He knows I like Dash! He's going to tell the whole school! I'll be mocked, tortured, beaten in!" Danny exclaimed and threw up his arms in over-exaggeration.

"Seriously? Since when is Kwan that kind of guy?" Sam said impatiently, "stop freaking out. Kwan reads people really well that's all. Not all Casper High is as perceptive as he is." Sam comforted. "Anyway, he said Dash liked someone pretty popular with the town already..." She hinted but was answered by the usual unknowing expression that crossed Danny's face. She sighed, "Dash might like Phantom." She summarised and snorted when Danny suddenly smiled.

"... Seriously?" His voice squeaked slightly and he held hiss hands together near his stomach as he laughed open mouthed. "That makes me even more sure about my plan then." At which point Sam and Tucker grew a tad worried.

"What plan?" Sam asked cautiously at which Danny grinned.

"Where's that darn Ghostcatcher hm?"

* * *

**_This is short... Sorry about that. I love you reviewers!_**!


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